The Runaway and the Count
by The Phantom Alchemist
Summary: Rhine Bradford, a runaway with a strange ability, happens upon the mysterious pet shop of Count D and joins him in his adventures and rather horrific sales, offering cynicism and sarcasm in sharp contrast to D's rather carefree when the animals aren't concerned nature... T for now, just because, you know, it's a Pet Shop of Horrors...
1. Desperate

**I loved this manga. I had to write this.**

**I know Pet Shop of Horrors isn't nearly as popular as a lot of other mangas and I know the anime sucked (seriously - the count is SO not that creepy) but maybe a few people out there will read and review... hopefully...**

**I love Count D, but I do not own the character or any other aspect of Pet Shop of Horrors.**

**And now, enjoy!**

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In Chinatown, Los Angeles, there have been several peculiar and unexplainable occurrences in the past few years, but none as fantastic or mysterious as those linked to the pet shop of the mystifying Count D. However, while the merchandise he sells range from house pets to exotic creatures of every nature, he continues to insist that what he truly deals in is love and hope, desires and dreams…

The girl at first appeared to be a mere shadow, moving within the darkness in silent, fluid motions. Her footfalls were so light that one would not hear them unless they were expecting to. She had the urgent air of one who does not want to be discovered hanging about her, and she started at every noise. She slunk through the maze of alleys in the city's downtown area, crouching behind dumpsters and dilapidated piles of forgotten cardboard boxes to conceal herself from passing cars. At the sound of sirens, she would jolt violently and sprint for another alley, preferably a darker one, and press herself against the wall of a weatherworn building or fence, hidden in the black, her eyes squeezed shut and her breaths short and disconnected.

Nothing about her particularly screamed "homeless." She was not unclean, nor were her clothes torn or tattered. She wore loose, faded jeans and a plain red t-shirt. On her feet was a pair of black converse, caked in mud. A thinly rimmed pair of glasses framed her peculiar eyes; the left was a deep brown and the right a startling emerald green. Slung across her shoulders was a bag fit to burst; it was quite obviously so full that she had needed to force it shut. The only thing truly rough and ragged about her was her hair. It was a soft brunette, hanging down to a point just below her collarbone, and the ends were uneven and sloppily cut, executed by unskilled hands and not the deft ones of a professional.

The harsh noise of a siren permeated the cool November air, not far off, and she gasped, her muscles tensing before she sprung out of the shadow of a pile of rank garbage bags, praying that the reason for the siren was not because the people who had set it off were in pursuit of her.

Rhine Bradford was on the run. She was not a thief, not a murderer, not a criminal. She was a runaway, and a fresh one at that, having stormed from her home one nine hours previously without the intention of ever returning. Legally, she would not be considered a missing person for another thirty-mine hours, but her father had some prestige among the Los Angeles Police Department, being the former police chief and having several still loyal officers still employed by the LAPD. Many owed her father favors still, and he could probably pull a few strings if he wanted to. Rhine shuddered at the prospect of being discovered and forced to return home, knowing the punishment for running would be severe.

When the siren faded, Rhine stood and took a few tentative glances around before slinking out of the foul smelling alley, letting out a long sigh of relief. She allowed herself a moment's respite and leaned against the wall of a decrepit old building as her heart rate slowly decelerated. She attempted to release the tension in her muscles and feel the cool air, but she found both tasks quite impossible. Her nerves were like live wires and she'd been unnaturally hot all day; since fleeing from her home the heat had only intensified, and she had pulled off her thin gray sweatshirt and stuffed it into the already bulging bag she wore. As the day progressed her head had begun to pound, but she ignored it and trudged on.

Presently, she was facing the dilemma of having only four hundred dollars in her possession – snatched out of her secret pile of cash, hidden below the floorboards beneath her bed – and having no immediate plans. Her departure had been rather abrupt and not premeditated. She knew she wanted to be away – away from that house and the life she'd taken her escape from. She'd considered buying a bus ticket and leaving Los Angeles altogether, but she got a highly unsettling feeling in her gut when she dwelt on that possible course of action. She'd never left the city, not once, in all her seventeen years. She supposed her first priority should be to find a job and earn some money to save up for food and shelter. School was no longer an option, of course – it would be the first place they'd look for her. A pity, really, that she would not be able to finish out her senior year of high school, but it was better than returning to that house, the place she'd once been forced to call home.

Rhine shook herself, irritated that she was still so absorbed with the mundane aspects of her situation and the life she'd given up, and set off down the maze of alleys she'd been navigating for the past several hours once again. After she had passed countless alleys the wind picked up, and she was disappointed to find that it seemed to blow right through her – though it made her hair whip wildly around her face, it offered no relief from the heat that had been possessing her all day.

A light rain began to drizzle over the city, and Rhine eagerly raised her face to the sky. The water, at least, offered some liberation from what she assumed was a fever. What began as a light shower quickly transformed into a downpour, and Rhine, though the rain felt wonderfully cool to her burning skin, realized that staying out in such wet weather would yield serious consequences – especially since she was already feeling ill. She sighed wearily and glanced at her wristwatch, dismayed to discover that already it was ten p.m. She had to find shelter, and quickly.

Rhine's stomach churned horribly and she grimaced. Food had not been on her list of things imperative to her escape when she was packing in a whirlwind, and all she had managed to grab before she stormed out of her house was a handful of granola bars and a bunch of slightly bruised bananas that had been sitting on her counter. She contemplated taking out a granola bar and munching on it, but her stomach was churning in a way that didn't so much as imply hunger but illness, so she decided against it as she ducked into another alleyway.

Lost in her frantic, worried thoughts, she walked straight into a pile of crates, and they went toppling over with several loud thumps. Rhine also went down with them, crashing into the pavement, and her right palm stung. She heard the unmistakable crunch of glass and swore colorfully as she scrambled to her feet. Blood was pouring from the gash in her palm, blotting the crates with splatters of crimson dots.

Her first action was to sprint for another alley, ignoring her throbbing hand in her frantic race to reach another far enough away so that someone who had heard the boxes toppling over wouldn't have time to investigate the source of the noise. When she felt she had gotten far enough to be safe, she stopped to examine her injury. She didn't have time for this! Exasperated, Rhine picked the glass away from the gash, wincing. Once she was satisfied that the glass had all been removed, she lifted her hand to her lips and ran her tongue over her injury.

The pain was instantaneous, like fire ripping through her palm, boiling her blood and incinerating her bones. No matter how many times in her life she'd done this, it always resulted in the same pain, but never for very long. Already it was fading, and as Rhine stared at her palm the wound crept closed until the skin was smooth as satin, the only evidence it had ever been there a thin, faint white line. That never ceased to amaze her.

As Rhine resumed walking, she rubbed the dried blood lingering on her hand and arm off, thinking no more of the cut she'd attained as she began to fret over shelter and food once more.

Another hour had passed when the city's labyrinth of alleys ran out, and Rhine found herself not a block away from Chinatown, glistening with red and gold lights and neon signs bearing Chinese characters and their English translations. Rhine found herself transfixed. It had been what seemed like an eternity since she'd been inside of Chinatown, on a school field trip her class had taken when she was in the third grade. It didn't feel like part of the city to her. It had its own aura, separate from the rest of Los Angeles, its own mesmerizing energy that made it seem like it was outside time itself. The block of the city was decorated with gold statues of lion-like creatures and dragons that you could almost believe, with enough imagination, would spring to life and crawl right off their pedestals.

At first, Rhine shuddered, imagining the punishment for being so near Chinatown. Her father had strictly forbidden her countless times from entering it ever again. He could rant for hours about how it would give her dangerous ideas and that the way she saw it – as a dreamland out of a fairytale – was unrealistic and therefore unhealthy.

But as she cowered at the thought, she realized – with all the impact of a speeding train – that she could go wherever she wanted. She had severed the bonds her father had held her captive with, and it was like all at once an invisible, crushing weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She was free.

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**Next Chapter will feature everyone's favorite pet shop caretaker (since Count D doesn't really own it...) !**

**So, if I get even one person telling me to continue, I will gladly go write up chapter two! Imma be in the mountains for a week, so I won't know how you all liked it until I return on Saturday... so for now, ciao!**


	2. Doorstep

**I'm back with chapter two! I'm trying to follow that lovely D theme from the manga with my chapter names... we'll see how long that lasts. I'm really happy this fic is getting some interest! 4 reviews out of only 35 views... I feel so loved (sob sob)! You guys are great!**

**I don't own the Count, D's pet shop, or anything else, really... depressingly. But enjoy chapter two anyway!**

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Enchanted, Rhine broke into a sprint, her eyes fixed upon Chinatown and a surge of ecstasy coursing through her veins. It had been years since she'd been able to do as she pleased and she'd never once been free to go where she wanted. She wanted to break all the rules set for her by her father while she was already committing the most treasonous act against him of all – running away. Maybe dashing towards her destination when she was already at her limit was stupid, but the adrenaline she was experiencing kept her going.

Her first step into Chinatown was… magical. She felt something deep inside her heart shift, and an invisible, crushing weight vanished from her shoulders. Chinatown was even more wonderful than she'd remembered it. Even without another soul lingering on the streets and in the pouring rain, it shone with light and life in vivid colors and ribbons hanging in shop windows and over entryways.

Rhine began to laugh, and halfway through her first chortle she choked and broke into a violent fit of sneezing. The cold and rain, she realized, was getting to her. Shelter would have to be her first priority, and she could take the time to admire the majesty of Chinatown later.

She settled down beneath the first awning she came to. She dropped her backpack and collapsed against a pillar, fatigue washing over her as she watched the bag topple over, top-heavy as it was. Curling her knees into her chest and sighing, she glanced at her surroundings. According to a sign near the door, the place she'd opted to camp out at was a pet shop, owned by a Count D. It opened at seven in the morning. She assured herself that she'd be gone by then, before the owner arrived to start his work.

The heat was becoming almost unbearable, but she was trembling nonetheless. Her every limb ached and although her stomach stabbed painfully at her for food, Rhine felt too nauseous to even think of eating, not to mention her throat was beginning to ache something fierce. Even swallowing agitated it.

Sniffling, Rhine shut her eyes and rested her forehead on her knees. Just a little bit of sleep…

"Oh, my. A customer, are you? The shop doesn't open until morning, you know," a smooth, silken voice informed her from the doorway, startling her out of her light slumber.

Rhine looked up at once to find a tall, slender person with glossy black hair reaching down to a point just below their chin and styled so their right eye was hidden. Their left eye was an enticing violet and they had a slim face and painted red lips. Rhine had to take a moment to process what gender the person was, especially since their clothes gave nothing away. They were wearing a simple Chinese ensemble, with loose-fitting pants and a blue top resembling a kimono, lined with gold. Rhine decided the person was a man by judging their voice alone.

She would have gotten up, but her legs felt like lead. "I am so sorry!" she exclaimed at once, looking at the man with wide, horrified eyes. She'd blown her cover. "I'm not looking to buy anything! I was just trying to find someplace out of the rain… I had no idea you lived here! I didn't mean to bother you or anything like that!"

The man looked at her appraisingly. "You weren't a bother. Had Q-chan not informed me there was a girl on our doorstep, I fear I would never have known."

Rhine stared at him. He was speaking to her as though she were both a child and something he almost… _wanted_. She squirmed uncomfortably. She wasn't getting a rapist vibe off this guy, but one could never be too careful. "I'm sorry," she said again, wondering vaguely who Q-chan was and how he had known she was out here. "I'll leave now."

"Oh, don't leave on my account," the man smiled. "You're welcome to sit there. Watching the rain is always so refreshing, don't you think? Of course, one is typically more comfortable inside, especially in weather such as this. You're more than welcome to come in and join me for some tea."

A shudder ran down Rhine's spine. "Um… no thanks. I'm fine out here. I'll be gone before your customers begin to show up, though. I swear."

The man looked a mix between disappointed and dejected, and he stared at Rhine intently for a few moments. She had to wonder if he was going to grab her and force her into the shop, and she realized with a pang of fear that she was in no state to struggle if he did attempt to take her in by force. But he simply shrugged and turned back around, offering a nonchalant, "Suit yourself," as he shut the door behind him.

Rhine let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She wasn't exactly sure what she had been expecting, but more than that. She wasn't even quite certain if she was relieved or not. "Well… that was anticlimactic," she mumbled, getting slowly to her feet.

A knot of unease twisted inside Rhine's already sensitive stomach. That Chinese guy was probably inside calling the cops to inform them of the street urchin camped out on his doorstep right now. And even if he wasn't, she had been caught. She didn't feel comfortable staying on the threshold of the pet shop now that she'd been discovered. It was definitely time to find another awning to set up shop beneath.

Sighing, Rhine stooped down to pick up her backpack. As she straightened her spine, her vision blurred fiercely, sending everything in her line of sight fuzzy. Rhine gasped and clung to a pillar in a desperate attempt to maintain her balance. Nausea took ahold of her with a vigor and she gagged on bile leaping to her throat. All she could see of the world was everything spinning, spinning around her in a horrible display of colors, blurring together until she was completely delirious.

She had reached her limit.

"Damn it," she whispered as her knees buckled and her bag toppled out of her hands. The world went black.

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Rhine regained consciousness slowly, and in stages. She first became aware of the atmosphere surrounding her. It was thick and heavy with mingled auras – there was mystery, hope, desperation, longing, fear, and desire, all swirling together in a way Rhine hadn't thought possible to be combined. She next became aware that the room possessed an overwhelming scent of bittersweet incense. It was as though everything was saturated with it. Carpet, walls, furniture…

She heard the faint sounds of animals. Wherever they were coming from, they were not close. Howls, grunts, snarls, roars, chuffs, whinnies, meows, barks. She even heard distant splashing sounds.

At last, she regained the sense of feeling in her body. She was laying down on what she assumed was a couch, low to the ground. It was firmer in some areas; those with less stuffing were adorned with puckered lines of thread that suggested tears that had been mended. She was still unnaturally hot, her throat still burner, her head still throbbed, and her limbs still ached.

The only part of her that felt alright was her forehead, which she felt was covered by something.

When she felt the back of someone's hand press gently against her cheek, Rhine nearly jumped out of her skin. Her eyes flew open and she bolted into a sitting position, though she underestimated quite where the armrests were and fell backwards off of it. The wet cloth from her forehead fell into her lap. The wind knocked out of her, Rhine breathed heavily as she lifted her gaze to meet that of the Chinese man she'd met in front of the pet shop earlier.

The man looked somewhat startled by her reaction, an almost feminine look of shock in his expression, before he smiled innocently. "I didn't realize you had awoken," he said pleasantly. "I apologize for frightening you."

"Screw that!" Rhine spluttered, glancing wildly around the room. It looked like an oriental living room, draped in multicolored sashes and ornamented with traditional Chinese décor. She normally wouldn't have cursed at a person she just met, but she was both humiliated by her display of clumsiness and horrified to be found in a new, unexpected situation that all thought of manners fled her mind. "Why the hell did you bring me in here?"

"I thought I might enjoy tea outside this evening with you," the man replied effortlessly. "It is always so stimulating to meet such fascinating people as yourself. However, when I returned to my doorstep I found that you had collapsed. If I may say so, you are burning up. That must be quite a fever you're running."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Rhine mumbled, attempting to clumsily pull herself up by bracing herself on the armrest of the chair she'd fallen out of. Her arms felt as weak as limp noodles and when she achieved standing up she leaned heavily on the chair for support as the world spun enough to trigger a slight bout of nausea. Rhine took a deep breath and adjusted her glasses, which had gone askew. "Sorry for ruining your evening and all," she apologized, bracing herself to stand up and leave. "I should really be—"

She was cut short when the man neatly – and with almost frightening precision – stuck a thermometer beneath her tongue as her mouth was still partially open from speaking. Her first instinct was to immediately reach up to pull it out, but her grabbed her wrist and shook his head, still smiling.

Rhine felt like a castigated child – and he hadn't even said a word.

After a minute of tense silence, the man pulled the thermometer from Rhine's mouth and stared at the reading, taken aback. "This is certainly alarming. Are you aware that you're running a temperature of 102.7 degrees Fahrenheit?"

Rhine caught herself before her jaw dropped open. Feigning apathy, she replied, "Nope. But thanks for informing me. I'll just get out of your hair, then."

Ignoring the way the room spun when she got to her feet, Rhine snatched her bag up off the floor from where it had been resting against the leg of the table in front of the couch and strode towards the door.

The Chinese man followed her. "Wait while I get an umbrella."

Rhine paused. "Oh, no – I'll be fine. It's just a little rain. You don't need to give me an umbrella."

The man smiled as he pulled a simple black umbrella from an ornate umbrella stand in the corner of the room. "It wasn't my intention to give you my umbrella. I'm walking you home."

Rhine started. "Oh – that really isn't necessary—!"

"With a 102.7 fever? I find it very necessary. What will you do if you collapse again?"

Rhine bit her lip and stared at her shoes. "I'll deal. Besides, it's impossible for you to walk me home. I don't… exactly have one anymore."

The man's smile grew wider with a look resembling triumph, but only briefly. "That is a shame," he said sympathetically. "Of course, if you have nowhere to go, I encourage you to stay here. I may be able to assist you in planning what to do next if you have been suddenly found on your own."

Rhine swallowed hard. Maybe one night would be okay. She was exhausted, after all. And sick…

"Okay," Rhine said at last with a heavy and uneasy sigh. "But just for a little while. I'm Rhine Bradford." Remembering the sign near the door, Rhine asked, "And are you Count D?"

The man smiled. "That is my grandfather's title. He is the owner of this pet shop. I am simply watching over it for now."

Rhine waited for him to tell her his name. He never did. So, for now, he was Count D to her, anyway.

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**Did I do alright with D's character? He's such a difficult guy to capture the essence of... Anyway, a couple more reviews and chapter three will be coming your way!**

**Phantom, out!**


	3. Destiny

**This chapter accomplishes a few things, and for that, I'm rather proud. It moves the story forward and I'm sure in a couple chapters I'll be able to cease the background arc and ease right ahead into the manga chapter arcs.**

**I won't babble on incessantly in this into, so for now, enjoy chapter three!**

**Also, I own pretty much nothing, nonetheless D and his Pet Shop…**

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As Rhine awoke the next morning, having had slept on the same couch the Count had rested her upon after she had collapsed outside the shop the night before, she became aware of someone lifting a cloth off of her head and replacing it with a new one. Slightly delirious with fever, she panicked for a moment before her memories of the previous evening rushed back to her and she relaxed. Her eyes fluttered open and she found Count D hovering over her. Seeing she was awake, he smiled reservedly and greeted her. "Good morning."

It was very strange to be waking up in an oriental styled room with a Chinese man (who, admittedly, still looked like a woman to her) at her bedside. It was even stranger to her because she was ill. Rhine had never expected a complete stranger would have been kind enough – and without malicious intent – to invite her into their home at all, much less attempt to care for her. "Morning," Rhine replied, her voice cracking. Her throat felt like it had been lit on fire.

The count looked her over, and his eyes met her gaze. "Do you feel any better?" he inquired. "I can tell your fever hasn't subsided."

Rhine shook her head as she began to sit up, uncomfortable with the situation. She cleared her throat and grimaced as it sent a dry burning sensation down her neck. "Not a bit. And the rest of me isn't doing so great, either."

Count D reached into his sleeve and pulled the thermometer from it. Handing it to Rhine, he suggested, "Why don't you get a new reading while I prepare some tea?"

Rhine shrugged and popped the instrument into her mouth, watching as D moved swiftly from the room. _Tea_, she thought amusedly_. How very…Chinese, I guess is the word. _Whenever she thought of cultures who frequently consumed tea, she always thought of the British and the Chinese. Perhaps that was somewhat judgmental of her, but still… _I wonder how long it's been since I've had tea, anyway_.

Rhine sighed and rubbed her eyes. She noticed, intriguingly, that the scent of incense had grown much fainter. How strange. She had actually found it rather calming last night. It probably would have helped her nerves at the moment – they felt like live wires tingling with electricity, they were all so on edge.

D returned barely a minute after he had gone, carrying a tea tray holding a teapot, two teacups, and a sugar bowl. To the side of it was a plate of what looked to Rhine like tarts – definitely not Chinese treats. The count set the tray on the coffee table in front of the couch and plucked the thermometer out of Rhine's mouth before she could protest, examining the reading on it. "102.4," he informed her. "Hardly better than last night."

Rhine sighed. "Well, it's going down, anyway. And it doesn't matter because I can't worry about something like that. I have to search for a job today."

The count handed her a teacup filled with a liquid giving off a scent that classified it as green tea. "Why is it so imperative you find a job today? Surely giving yourself time to rest would be wiser."

"I can't live on my own if I'm not making money," Rhine pointed out dejectedly, sipping at the tea. It was much too sweet for her taste, but wonderful relief to her aching throat, so she ignored the sugary flavor. "Four hundred dollars goes quick in L.A., and that's all I've got."

The count seated himself in a chair to the right of the coffee table, taking dainty sips from his own teacup. "Living on your own at such a young age," he sighed. "What happened to your parents?"

Rhine bit on the inside of her cheek, a nervous habit. "My mom walked out on me and my dad when I was a few months old. And yesterday…I decided I couldn't stand living with my dad anymore. So I ran away."

Rhine felt an intense gaze upon her and looked up to see D looking slightly upset by the news. "And what did he do to make living with him so intolerable?" he asked seriously. Rhine noticed that the smirk that had been ever-present upon his lips was gone.

She swallowed hard, agitating her sore throat. "It's not something I usually like to talk about… but I guess… My dad always sort of took everything out on me. Like… Oh, to hell with it!" she burst, obviously annoyed by her lack of explanation. "Just look." She lifted the bottom of her t-shirt up enough to expose her abdomen and ribcage, the smooth skin interrupted by large and angry purple bruises.

"They're all over," Rhine said, pulling her shirt back into place. "My legs and my chest, too. Usually it's a lot worse, but I've been avoiding him lately. They'd mostly healed until yesterday, when Dad stumbled into the house drunk just before noon. A woman he'd been dating dumped him. He really laid into me and I just couldn't take it anymore. Actually…I sort of knocked him out with his own beer bottle. After that I packed everything I could fit into my backpack and got the hell out."

The count stared at her, quite obviously appalled. Rhine sighed and took a long sip of tea, waiting for him to snap out of it. At last, he said darkly, "That man is as human as it gets."

Rhine had no idea what he meant by that and was about to ask, but D continued speaking and the smirk returned to his lips. She assumed that meant he was back to his normal self. "I suppose it's quite fortunate you've stumbled upon my doorstep, then. I've been thinking I would like some help around the shop. It's gotten so big, you see. What would you say to a job here? Room and board included, of course."

Rhine's mouth dropped open. "What? I mean – No! I couldn't possibly – you've already been so kind and… and… why?" she finally asked, unable to adequately convey her thoughts.

The count smiled. "I find you quite fascinating. Especially those eyes of yours. So…enticing." As he spoke, he lifted the hair away from his right eye.

Rhine gasped. He had two different colors of eyes as well. His right eye was a startling yellow, the color of liquid gold, offering an eerie contrast to his left eye, a deep violet. Rhine had thought _her_ brown and green eyes were strange. Count D's, while quite peculiar, still had a haunting quality about them that made Rhine wish her own eyes were purple and gold as well.

Rhine slowly nodded. She didn't know why she was doing this. "Okay," she whispered, shocked by her nerve. She was accepting room and board from a stranger. Where had her rationality gone? "I accept your offer. I'll work here."

The count's demeanor went immediately cheery. "Wonderful!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "You can begin as soon as you're well again!"

Rhine was absolutely sure karma was going to kick her in the mouth to make up for all the good suddenly happening to her. "What kind of work will I be doing, anyway? Cleaning? Feeding the animals?" she asked.

The count's smile turned mischievous. "Among other things."

Rhine stared at him, but thought it best not to ask questions. "Okay… I guess I'll just – what is that thing?" she exclaimed mid-sentence, pointing at a small winged creature swooping down from the rafters of the room and landing on D's shoulder.

"Hm? Oh, him?" D asked, indicating the animal and smiling. "This is Q-chan. He's my winged rabbit."

_With horns_? Rhine wondered, staring at the creature. _Wait a second… wasn't it Q-chan who told the count I was outside last night? What the heck is going on in this shop_?

"Well, at any rate, there's a spare room down the hall," the count said cheerily, setting down his teacup and standing. "I'll lead you to it now and you can begin to make your recovery there!"

Rhine, still staring at Q-chan in amazement, nodded. "Sure…" She stood up with intentions of following the count, but the sudden movement threw her head spinning and she keeled over, straight into Count D's arms. "S-s-sorry," she stammered, horrified by her carelessness. "I got a bit dizzy."

She pulled away from the count and tensed when he placed a hand on the small of her back. "You very clearly won't make it walking on your own," the count sighed, though he didn't seem inconvenienced. He had Rhine's backpack in his hand already, much to her shock. She hadn't seen him pick it up.

The room was three doors down the hallway, which seemed to extend much further beyond that. Rhine was appalled by the size of the shop. She hadn't thought it was that large when she'd seen it from outside. Although she supposed he needed several rooms for any animals he might have, which she had yet to see. The room he was allotting to her was of reasonable size and plain, with no wall hangings like the ones that had been in the sitting room. The only relatively decorative thing about the room was the wooden folding screen near the open closet door. A bed with white sheets rested in the corner of the room and a simple bedside table next to it. On the wall hung a plain clock, about three minutes fast.

"You're free to decorate it however you like, of course," D smiled, setting Rhine's bag down on the bedside table. "Although I do hope you're not into anything of the occult variety…"

Rhine snorted as she practically fell onto the bed. "What, you mean like a witch or something? No thank you. I'm not into all that dark magic and stuff."

"So you believe in magic?" the count asked quite abruptly, throwing Rhine off-guard. He was suddenly very, very serious.

Rhine shuddered. "Well… yeah. I guess I do."

D smiled at her again before proceeding to the door. "Perhaps you should get some more sleep, Miss Bradford."

That was the first time he'd used any part of her name. Rhine bit the inside of her cheek. Where had this sudden sense of uneasiness come from? Maybe she was just tired. "Yeah. Sounds like a good idea," she said at last.

D threw her a final smirk before he shut the door. In the hall, he leaned against it and smiled to himself. "What a lovely creature," he murmured, a tingle of excitement running up his spine. "She truly doesn't know what she is, then… I really am quite interested in her."

He stepped away from the door as he heard the sound of the bell over the shop entrance jingling. "Come along, Q-chan," he called to the small wolpertinger, who was hovering at the door as though he wanted back inside with the girl. "We have a customer to attend to."

Heading towards the front room of his shop, he threw a glance at the door of the bedroom he'd given to the newest addition to his shop. "Rhine Bradford…what caused you to show up at my doorstep? Perhaps…it was destiny."

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**Fin!**

**So, of course D knows what she is… no mere human would have struck his interest so (at least in my mind). I'm trying to bring forth some of that fun, eccentric air of his we often saw him use with Leon… especially in chapters to come. But unfortunately, whenever I think of what D would do or say in this scenario, my mind always reverts back to the anime, which I believe I have stated before, absolutely sucked.**

**I love the manga so much…**

**Anyway, I'd ask you to formulate guesses on Rhine, but I fear I have not given you nearly enough material to form predictions yet… so send me your reviews instead and I'll see you all in chapter four!**

**Phantom, out!**


	4. Documents

**It feels like a long time since I've updated… (nervous laugh). I was holding out for more reviews, but I got impatient. So seriously, guys, review! It gives me the motivation I need to get out of bed in the morning, let alone write new chapters (sad, isn't it? I officially have no social life).**

**This chapter gives you more of Rhine's background and accents D's awesomeness! He's so awesome… it actually took a lot out of me to write this because I finished the manga (again) and it made me depressed… plus, **_**Pet Shop of Horrors Shin**_** is only partially scanlated… adding insult to injury…**

**So, I write this while listening repeatedly to **_**The Cave **_**by Mumford and Sons and attempting to get back into the **_**Pet Shop of Horrors**_** groove. Enjoy chapter four!**

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Rhine awoke in a cold sweat, haunted by the phantom of a nightmare in which the last thing she had seen was her father, indescribable rage shining in his eyes, advancing upon her. She nearly panicked when she sensed another person in the room with her before she realized it was not her father but the count, setting up a tray of tea on her bedside table. "What are you doing here?" Rhine breathed, sitting up and rubbing her eyelids in an attempt to lighten them. They seemed so heavy.

D turned the lamp on the table on and sat in an armchair next to the table that Rhine couldn't even remember having been in the room when she'd first been shown to it. "I've just closed up the shop and I thought I might come check on you," he said pleasantly.

"With tea?"

"Yes," the count smiled. "I always have tea around this time. I find it can be very relaxing – especially after a nightmare."

Rhine's breath caught in her chest. "H-how did you know I was having a bad dream?" she stammered.

How could he not have? She'd been whimpering pleadingly in her sleep before she'd awoken, begging someone – he supposed her father – not to hurt her. "Intuition," he replied smoothly, avoiding the question. "Now, there are a few things I feel we should address. The first, of course, is your condition." He handed Rhine the thermometer and she slipped it under her tongue without hesitation. While she waited for the numbers to climb, D continued. "I went out to run a few errands today and picked up something you may find useful. But before we discuss that…" he pulled the thermometer out of Rhine's mouth and looked at the reading. "It's dropped to 101.9 degrees," he said approvingly. "Sleep certainly is rejuvenating, isn't it?"

Rhine nodded as she reached for a teacup and took a sip. Her throat felt better, but not by much. The tea soothed it somewhat, even if the taste was ridiculously sweet. She watched with wide eyes as the count sipped at his cup, pursed his lips, then set it down and proceeded to dump about eight sugar cubes into it. As he stirred his tea, she recovered and asked, "So, what was it that you picked up that I can use?"

Smiling, D slid a small stack of papers forward. "I believe you'll find that these are all the necessary documents you'll require to file for legal emancipation."

"Seriously?!" Rhine gasped, lunging for the papers and rifling through them with excitement shining in her eyes. "Oh, my gosh! This is… This is great! I mean, I don't know why I didn't think of this! I could keep going to school and then you wouldn't be breaking the law by harboring a runaway, and—!" She stopped short when the room spun. "Th-thank you," she finished lamely, embarrassed by her sudden statements of the obvious.

The count didn't seem bothered by her display of enthusiasm. He sipped at his tea, looking at Rhine with a scrutinizing expression. "Tell me, Miss Bradford, do you get sick easily?"

She wondered where that question had come from, almost out of nowhere, but replied honestly. "I guess so. I mean, I get sick a whole lot more than other people I know. But of course, my immune system can't be all that it's cracked up to be, what with my dad beating on me all the time…"

D's eyes flashed for an instant before his smile returned. "Yes, of course," he said agreeably. "Now, going back to the subject of your illness – how long has it been since you've eaten?"

Rhine paused. She'd almost forgotten about food. Her stomach hurt too much to eat, anyway. "What time is it?"

"Nearly nine in the evening."

Rhine did some quick calculations in her head. "Then, um… nearly thirty-five hours now. Why?" Rhine asked feebly, sure that she was blushing even _with _her face red with fever.

"What?!" D burst out, obviously appalled. "You're telling me that you've had _nothing _in over a day?! Why on earth didn't you say anything?! Oh, for goodness's sake—!" D set down his teacup at once and rushed from the room, leaving Rhine staring at the door with her mouth hanging half open, her teacup halfway to her lips.

The count returned close to ten minutes later, another tray in his hands with a bowl sitting atop it made of – Rhine noted with a hint of irony – beautifully painted china. He was muttering to himself. "Nothing to eat in thirty-five hours… starving herself… obviously wants to collapse from malnourishment…"

Now Rhine knew she was blushing. All the way down to her toes. The count set the tray down on her lap and reseated himself in his chair, pouring more tea into his teacup to top it off so a thin ribbon of steam rose up from his cup. "Due to the short notice, I'm afraid the best I could manage was to scrounge up a bowl of soup," he sighed in exasperation, holding his head. "What I simply do not understand is your failure to mention that you hadn't eaten in over a day."

Rhine had taken to the soup with some hesitation, unsure of how her stomach would react, but began to take cautious spoonfuls. The soup did little to alleviate the pain in her gut, but did ease the ache in her throat. Swallowing down her third mouthful, she said embarrassedly, "You'd already been so nice to me. I didn't want to bother you with something… stupid like this."

"I do not call the universal requirement for food shared by all creatures _stupid_," D grumbled. "Not having eaten in thirty-five hours… I never…"

"Sorry," Rhine mumbled, staring down into her bowl. "I didn't mean to seem… ungrateful."

D seemed to realize he was making Rhine feel guilty, which had not been his intention, and smiled at her reassuringly. "Having you here is no inconvenience to me, Miss Bradford. As a matter of fact, since you showed up at my doorstep there has been an added layer of… dimension to my routine. It gets rather monotonous dealing only with the shop's pets and my customers day after day."

Rhine's aura brightened considerably. "All right. Thanks, D," she smiled, taking another spoonful. It was the first time the count had seen her smile. It was rather dazzling, even in her condition.

The count reached for the emancipation documents and pulled a pen from the pocket of his – well, dress. That was all Rhine could describe it as. He uncapped it and pressed it to the top of the first page. "Alright, then. Firstly… name. Rhine, was it?"

Rhine nodded and D wrote _Rhine Bradford_ onto the page in an elegant, slanting script. "Age?" he inquired next, reading off the information that was needed.

"I'm seventeen," Rhine replied at once. People always thought she was younger than that because of her small size.

"Date of birth?"

"August tenth."

The count paused. "That was barely a month ago," he noted, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I know," Rhine sighed, twirling her spoon in her fingers. "I don't really feel seventeen yet… but it's not like I can do anything about it."

"So young," D muttered before returning his attention to the page. "Sex… female. Ethnicity… Caucasian…"

"Um – excuse me," Rhine interrupted him. D looked up and she explained, "I'm not fully Caucasian. My mother was Japanese."

"My mistake," the count smiled, crossing out his first mark. It made sense that she had Japanese blood in her, due to what she was…

The count corrected his error and continued. "Name of mother."

"Maika Bradford," Rhine said. She liked the sound of her mother's name. "Her maiden name was Sagami." D took note of that and Rhine, without being prompted, continued, "My father's name is Mark Bradford."

The count wrote in the information. "List your parents' occupations."

Rhine looked somber. "Well, uh… my mom's deceased, but I think she was a waitress. My dad was the police chief up until about a year ago but now he… um… works as a bartender." Under her breath, she added contemptuously, "At a strip club."

"So human," D mumbled, as Rhine had heard him do before. She still didn't quite understand what he meant by it, but didn't broach the subject. D turned to a new page and said, "School."

"Sacred Heart High School," Rhine sighed. She hated it there. Not that it bothered her that it was Catholic or even all –female; it was purely for the reason that her father had chosen it for her. He wasn't even a man of religion – he just didn't want her in a public school or with boys. And with barely 265 students in attendance, making friends hadn't been easy. Her class consisted of about 70 people, and most of them didn't like her very much. There was even a rumor going around that her eyes were different colors because – and this was the part Rhine could barely believe – God was punishing her. Not a word on what she was being punished for; just that she was being punished.

Not to mention most of those girls were the stereotypical Catholic school girl on the slutty end, not the good old-fashioned prude, destined-to-be-a-nun end.

"Year."

"I'm a senior this year."

"Parents' home address."

"1700 Edgecliff Drive."

The count stopped and looked up at Rhine, shocked. "You came from that far? But that's miles away from here!"

"I know," Rhine said grimly, taking another sip of tea. "I went for about ten hours, you know. All on foot. I couldn't risk a bus."

D nodded understandingly and returned his attention to the papers. "Place of work. Easy enough. D's Pet Shop. 943 North Broadway." He turned the page again and then flipped through several more, all filled with legal mumbo-jumbo, before he stopped. "All right. Reasons for applying." He looked up at Rhine. "Maybe you want to fill this part out yourself?"

Rhine gave it some thought, but then shrugged. "Why bother? It's not like it makes a difference." She took a deep breath. "I want to be emancipated because my father is a hopeless drunk who takes his anger at the world out on me. He beats me with everything from his fists to a blunt chair leg. He used to cut me, but he stopped about a year ago."

D filled in her reasons and looked back up at her, sympathy in his expression. "This isn't part of the questionnaire, so feel free to keep it to yourself if you wish, but why did he stop?"

Rhine sucked in her breath. It was because he realized no matter how many times he cut her they were healed – almost magically – by the next time he saw her. Since he got no pleasure from the long-lasting effects of his handiwork, he stopped. "I can't tell you," Rhine finally mumbled. No way would she reveal what a freak she was. What sort of person was able to heal wounds by just licking them, anyway? A freak. Maybe a possessed one.

D didn't press the subject. "Do you have a bank account?" he asked.

Something in Rhine's memory jolted out of dormancy. "Oh, my god!" she exclaimed. "I totally forgot about it! I do!" D looked puzzled, so she explained, "I opened one when I was twelve over the phone, pretending I was my dad. I put in everything I'd saved up to that point and put in all my birthday and Christmas money every year until last year. My dad's new job at that club… it isn't too far from the bank my account is in, so I stopped going to it. I was afraid he'd see me. I think I had a couple thousand dollars in it!"

D smiled as he jotted down the information. "All right. Where will you be living should you receive legal emancipation? Well, I believe I can answer that one," he said pleasantly, filling in the line allotted for that information with the same address he had written in as her place of work. "Well, then… the rest is all legal. I can take these to the courthouse tomorrow and have them arrange a hearing. I'm assuming, of course, your father is not consenting to your emancipation?"

Rhine nodded. "He'll probably try to kill me if he ever sees me again."

"Well then, the sooner the better," the count said, setting aside the documents. "And on that note, how do you feel? Any better?"

"A bit," Rhine replied, answering honestly. "My throat's better, at least." Her stomach, she wasn't so sure about.

"Perhaps some more sleep would do you good," the count suggested, lifting himself out of his chair and taking the tray with the bow of soup from Rhine. He then took up the tray of tea. "Good night, Miss Bradford."

"Good night, D," Rhine said, finding the farewell they shared somewhat amusing, for reasons she couldn't explain. The count slipped out of the room and shut the door behind him, and Rhine reached over and switched the lamp off before burrowing under the covers, waiting for sleep to take her.

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**Good day so far for me! I actually – get this – auditioned for American Idol today! I didn't get in, but the producers told me my voice was good and invited me to audition again next season… maybe I'll look into voice lessons… and I'm also preparing for my 17****th**** birthday, which is on Friday! (And before you go to double check, yes, I did make Rhine's birthday the same as mine.) Actually, one of my friends just turned 18 and we're going boating on Wednesday to celebrate… so I probably won't have much time for writing anymore this week.**

**And, of course, I finished this chapter and posted it online!**

**I love sharing bits and pieces of my life with you guys. I don't know why, but I do.**

**Okay, as for this chapter, I don't know what emancipation documents require, so I'm sorry if I got it wrong. I just went with what I thought sounded good and, of course, what would give you some more background on Rhine!**

**And seriously, guys, review! That's right! I'm talking to you! Yes, you! Sitting at your computer reading fanfictions! Review! Please! FOR THE CHILDREN!**

**=3 teehee.**

**Phantom, out!**


	5. Durable

**It's been a long time since I've updated this… as usual, I've been holding out for reviews. The things I need to live, in order, are as follows: oxygen, water, food, reviews. So unless you want me to die at my computer one day soon, ya'll should drop me a line! Anyway, some of you are waiting for the romance (and there will be romance!), hints of which will be starting this chapter! And I am aware that the DxLeon pairing is all too popular, but people do seem to love it… while I enjoy Leon's character, I maintain the belief that the man is a complete a**hole, and do not favor he and the count as a couple. Plus, yaoi in general doesn't appeal to me very much. So for the few of you out there who enjoy reading a CountxOC story, I love you all and I hope you enjoy chapter five**!

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It was four hours later that Rhine's stomach decided it couldn't handle the soup.

She awoke to the sensation of her gut being stabbed and the taste of bile all too potent in the back of her mouth, and from prior experiences, knew she had better race for the bathroom like her life depended on it lest she wanted to be physically sick all over the floor.

Slightly delirious with a fever that seemed to have gotten worse since the Count had come with emancipation papers and tea, Rhine began to get out of the bed. She found herself tangled in the sheets and for a moment fantasized they were trying to strangle her before she literally fell right out of the bed, landing on the floor with a jolt that made her stomach lurch, but free of her bed sheets.

She got clumsily to her feet, swaying on weak legs, before she managed to grasp the door handle and topple into the hall. It was incredible dark, lit by the occasional lamp hanging on the hall's sides every so often. Rhine stared down the hall and shuddered. Something about the shop suddenly seemed very foreboding.

To the left was the shop's main parlor. She headed to the right, no idea where she would find a bathroom but knowing she hadn't seen one in the apparently small part of the pet shop she'd seen. She took a few random turns, trying to remember which directions she had chosen as to find her way back. The shop hadn't looked nearly this big from the outside. There were so many back rooms…

Rhine finally came to a door open a crack, and she could see tile flooring. She thrust open the door and jammed the light switch up, relieved to see it was what she had been looking for.

Her stomach expelled everything it had to offer three seconds later as she gagged and convulsed over the toilet.

The good news was that her stomach felt somewhat better after that horrifying and fairly humiliating display of vomiting. The bad news: she felt hotter than ever and her throat was ablaze. Gasping as she went back into the hall, clicking the light off, she went back the way she thought she had come. A turn left… right… right again… left.

Rhine reached the door she thought was her bedroom and opened it, rubbing her eyes. She felt like she'd just run a marathon. She went into the room, expecting the small bedroom given to her by the count – and instead found herself in another world entirely.

_How did I get outside_? She wondered, staring at her surroundings with her mouth hanging open. And she was in Chinatown, for goodness's sake – what was a tropical jungle doing in the middle of Chinatown?

"Yo! The count found a new pet! How about that?!" a very loud, booming voice crowed from somewhere in the trees. Rhine jolted as a large, burly man with yellow eyes, wild black hair, and tattoos of what appeared to be tiger stripes running up and down his body came bursting out of the foliage, looking gleefully amused. All he was wearing was a loincloth. "Come look at this!" he yelled back at the trees, before turning to Rhine. "What manner of beast are you, sweetheart? You ain't like nothing I've ever seen around here before."

"Oh, please, Milford," a cool voice purred, and a woman with a long mane of curly yellow hair wearing a leopard-print leotard slunk into the open from behind a tree. "You're that surprised? The count does love to collect rare creatures. She's a timid one, too. Look at how she's shaking." Smiling at Rhine, she said, "This clearly isn't your habitat, dear. I think you should head back to your room. Plenty of time to become acquainted with the other animals in the morning."

_Animals? Creature? What are they talking about_? Rhine thought, baffled, as she turned around and went back through the door.

But now she was lost, so very lost. Which way had she come from? Had she passed that door once already? This hall looked just like the rest of them! How was she going to get back when she had no idea where she was going?

Desperate, Rhine began to open doors at random. The first one seemed to be a lounge – with long, lanky girls sprawled out in provocative positions on the several couches, all wearing white and pink leotards and bunny ear headbands.

Rhine shut the door, disturbed. _What, does the count think he lives at the Playboy Mansion or something_?!

Rhine ran down another hallway and opened a door she thought might be hers. She was met by a crowd of bright-eyed children, begging her to play with them.

"A new one!"

"Play with us, Miss!"

"We're ever so bored!"

"Please play with us!"

Rhine gasped, too shocked to respond, and toppled back into the hall before getting a word out. She could hear the disappointed groans of the children from the other side of the door. _Now it's an orphanage? What the hell is this pet shop? I haven't even seen one animal_!

The next room she tried contained a deciduous forest. Rhine, exhausted and confused, gave up the search. She crumpled to the ground, glad there was grass there to soften her fall, curled her knees into her chest and tried to keep from sobbing. Her stomach was beginning to churn again.

"Is something wrong, child?" a gentle, hoarse voice inquired. Rhine let out a short gasp and looked up towards the source. A woman in a black sari, adorned with cloudy white jewels, stood above her. The woman was old, with wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and lips, and had a kind face and aura. "Poor dear," the woman sighed, stooping down to sit next to Rhine's frail, trembling body. She placed a papery hand on Rhine's forehead. Her expression flooded with sympathy. "Caught ill, have you?" As she spoke the words, she let out two short coughs.

"A-are you sick too?" Rhine asked in a whisper, wiping at the tears in her eyes.

"Oh, no, dear. I'm just old," the woman smiled, stroking Rhine's hair. "I'm the oldest creature in this shop."

"So… are you the count's mom?" Rhine said huskily.

The woman laughed. "Oh, at all, dearest. But I have been with the count for many years. He cares for me as he cares for all animals in this shop. And just as he'll care for you."

Rhine's mind was growing foggier by the second. She was only catching bits and pieces of what the woman was saying to her. Rhine responded dumbly, "He doesn't have to. I just work here," before she threw up on the grass and blacked out.

* * *

Rhine hadn't been in her room when D went to check on her. He wasn't alarmed by this, but he was a bit concerned. There were several things that Rhine should not be introduced to so quickly lurking behind his many doors. What he had to figure out was where she would have gone and where she had ended up.

He decided to employ one of the many dogs in his shop to assist him in finding the girl. As it turned out, though, they didn't need any sort of sample of her scent, as she had stumbled into the room sometime earlier.

"She smelled like a bird, a bit," one of the dogs told him enthusiastically. "But there was a lot of human scent on her."

"She smelled sick," another informed him. "I don't think she was feeling too good."

"She didn't want to play with us!"

The count sighed. "Of course she didn't want to play with you. She has a fever of almost 102 degrees."

"That's bad for humans, right?"

"Why is there a human living here now?"

"She was human?! I thought she was a bird who lived with them!"

"In a sense… yes," D grumbled, holding his head. He was about to have one of the hounds sniff out the newest addition to his shop, but found it quite unnecessary when Q-chan swooped down upon him, telling the count in his own way the Rhine was with Madame Sultana.

Well, at least Rhine had ended up somewhere there wasn't a chance of her getting eaten.

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"Madame Sultana?" D called as he slipped through the door where she resided.

"Count," she greeted him. She was sitting on the grass next to Rhine's unconscious body and had rested the girls head in her lap. Some three feet to their right was a patch of grass covered by a plain white cloth. Madame Sultana looked up at D as she ran her fingers through Rhine's short, choppy brown hair. "This girl is very sick, Count," she said quietly. "She threw up and fell unconscious about fifteen minutes ago. Where on earth did you find her? I thought creatures like this existed only in legend."

"I was beginning to think they'd gone extinct," the count said softly, approaching Madame and Rhine. "It was pure fortune that I found her in front of my shop yesterday evening. She may be only a half-blood, but there's no doubt the demon blood coursing through her veins will take over soon. Within the year, I'm guessing." He stooped down and lifted Rhine away from the Sultana. "And you're right. She is very sick. Half-bloods have such fragile immune systems, and this particular creature has endured more than her fair share of beatings."

"Poor dear," Madame cooed sympathetically, rising slowly to her feet. "I fear for the girl. I'd call her a doctor, Count."

D placed his hand behind Rhine's head and held her close to him. She was even warmer than she had been when she'd shown up at his doorstep. "Yes… yes, I think I will," he said. She probably had the flu, and a bad case of it, but any antibodies or medicines he could attain for her would be worth preserving such a precious specimen. "Thank you, Madame Sultana," he whispered, inclining his head respectfully towards her and departing from the room.

_It's a good thing her mother's species is so durable_, the count thought, navigating expertly through the halls until he reached the bedroom he'd given to Rhine. _A half-blood coming from the lineage of a lesser demon clan wouldn't have held out quite so gracefully – or for so long_.

He slipped into the room and laid Rhine on the bed, repositioning her bed sheets so only the thinnest sheet covered her body. In her present condition, he hated to leave her alone for any length of time, but there was no phone in the bedroom. He stole from the room to telephone an acquaintance of his who lived just down the street, Dr. Liu. He apologized continually for such a late summons, but assured the doctor it was urgent. Dr. Liu graciously agreed to head over as soon as he had prepared his tools.

The Count dampened two cloths in a bowl of cool water and carried the bowl back to Rhine's room. It had been a long time since one of the residents of his shop had required such care and attention. It was a mere thirty seconds before he was back at Rhine's side, laying one of the cloths on her forehead.

Her eyelids fluttered and she opened her eyes. The dark circles beneath them were worse than D had thought they were. She looked feebly at him and asked hoarsely, "What happened?"

The count sighed. There wasn't time at all to explain the nature of his pet shop to her now. "You'll find out soon enough," he said gently. He reached out unsurely and combed his fingers through Rhine's hair, mimicking the way Madame Sultana had offered comfort to the sick girl. "As far as I gathered, you wandered off and fell unconscious."

"There was a woman," Rhine mumbled. "An old woman, wearing black. I didn't get her name. She said she knew you…"

_Thank goodness she didn't run into Honlon_."Yes, that was Madame Sultana. She's lived here for many years," the count said. "I suppose I'll have to keep a closer eye on you. It's very easy to get lost in these halls if you don't know your way around."

"I noticed," Rhine mumbled, clearing her throat and grimacing.

"How do you feel?"

"Bad," she croaked, not even trying to make light of the situation. "There can't possibly be anything left in my stomach, but its churning. My throat feels like it's on fire. And I'm hot."

"Hopefully we can fix that. An acquaintance of mine, Dr. Liu, is on his way over as we speak. He's very kindly agreed to come and take a look at you on short notice. Not to mention it's nearly three in the morning…"

Rhine grimaced again. She didn't like doctors much. They always smelled of rubbing alcohol and more often than not meant needles. But she just felt so horrible that she wasn't going to object to being seen by a professional.

Perhaps we should relocate you somewhere with a bit more light," D suggested, realizing the room was probably too dark to allow a doctor to examine a patient inside with ease. Rhine shrugged weakly and began to attempt getting up. D placed a hand on her shoulder, appalled. "What are you doing?"

"We're only going as far as the parlor, right? I'm heading there."

"Silly girl," D muttered under his breath. "You've overexerted yourself enough already tonight." He scooped her up in his arms without another word, and paid no heed to her protests.

"My legs work just fine," Rhine griped as he set her on the couch in the front room.

"Yes, yes," the count brushed her off as three sharp knocks sounded from the direction of the door. He rushed over and opened it. "Dr. Liu, thank you so much for coming," he greeted the man, stepping aside so he could come in.

Rhine subjected herself to a series of minor medical tests at the hands of Dr. Liu, who was a middle-aged Chinese man who spoke unaccented English, unlike the count. Her temperature was taken _–_ it had spiked up to 103.6 degrees, to her dismay _–_ and her throat and eyes looked at. She endured an at-home strep test, which came out clean, and after prodding her stomach for a few moments in which he hit something that made her almost vomit on the spot, Dr. Liu diagnosed Rhine's illness as a rather fierce bout of the flu.

Rhine thought that was that, as she didn't think anything could be done for the flu and her only option was to wait it out, but Dr. Liu pulled a syringe and a vial of clear liquid out of his bag, saying that a saline injection would help her white blood cells attack the virus. Rhine's face blanched.

D, taking notice of her very sudden, obvious fear, gripped her hand as Dr. Liu gave her the injection. Then the doctor packed his bag and left D with the instructions to keep Rhine on fever reducers and painkillers and to make sure she was keeping hydrated and not starving herself even though she wouldn't want to eat. The count thanked him again and Dr. Liu made his leave.

"There you have it," D smiled down at Rhine, who was still grimacing, able to feel the ghost of the needle in her shoulder. He scooped her up in his arms again and carried her back to her bedroom, where she situated her sheets the way she wanted them and stuck the cold cloth back over her forehead. D chuckled at her plain relief to be away from Dr. Liu.

"Come now, it wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked.

She looked at him. "I hate needles," she mumbled, drifting back into sleep. D sighed and sank into the chair he'd left at her bedside. He'd keep a constant watch on her until she was well enough for him to explain the nature of his shop to her. But for now, he had to make sure the fantastic creatures behind his many doors didn't get their chance to frighten her away, eat her, or reveal exactly what she was to her in the bluntest of manners. Quite frankly, eating her would be more painless than that.

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**There you have it! Three weeks and this is finally getting posted! Sorry about the wait, guys, and thanks for all you reviews. Was that enough semi-romance to tide you over? Or is my definition of romance clearly different from yours? **

**Now, I must go start the school day… senior year is proving both difficult and incredible…**

**Review! I love you forever if you review! (Meaning, of course, I love you temporarily for reading. So review!)**

**Phantom, out!**


	6. Dream, Part One

**I am finally getting this up. I am sorry for the delay.**

**Please don't hurt me…**

**Anyway, enjoy Chapter 6! This is Dream, part one. You loyal manga readers should remember this. Or most of it, anyway…**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I REALLY DO NOT own Pet Shop of Horrors. It is Matsuri Akino's! Every event involving Angelic did not come from my mind! This is Akino's sandbox. I just play in it.**

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Rhine woke up the next morning disoriented, per usual, but feeling noticeably better. For a while she wondered if the pet shop and being sick had just been a dream she'd concocted in her sleep, but opening her eyes disproved her theory, as she was lying in bed in the room the count had given to her. Her head wasn't pounding quite so hard and her throat didn't feel quite so aflame. She felt much cooler.

The bedroom door opened and D slipped inside, smiling. "You've awoken," he said, settling into the chair that still sat facing Rhine's bed. He leaned over and placed a hand on her forehead. "Your fever's gotten better," he said nonchalantly, as though the news neither dismayed nor pleased him.

"I guess that means I can start work now, then?" Rhine asked hopefully, sitting up and stretching out her arms. She felt ready to return to the living. Or ready enough.

"Let's hold out on that for another day," D smirked. "Dr. Liu suggested that you get your rest before exerting yourself. Tomorrow, certainly."

"But I feel so useless lying around in bed," Rhine sighed. "Can't I even go out and meet some of the animals? I've never even had a dog, and I'm really excited about all the animals."

"Tomorrow," D repeated, standing up smoothly. "I'll go get you some breakfast and some medicine."

"I can get it myself."

"Absolutely not," D huffed, sauntering out of the room. "Don't move. Tomorrow you can begin to learn everything that you need to about this shop."

* * *

That promise of _tomorrow_ stuck in Rhine's head all day. She was forced to stay in bed – Q-chan was an ever-present guest in the room, and each time she tried to get up he'd fly off, and D would come storming in, irritated, and demanded she get back into bed. Rhine got the sneaking suspicion that the tiny flying rabbit-creature was telling on her.

However, with nothing in the room to entertain her but her thoughts, which were focused on the curious residents of the shop she'd met last night – or thought she'd met, she couldn't be sure in her state of deliria – and D's promise of _tomorrow_. When night fell, being sick of having to stay in bed far outweighed being sick, and Rhine couldn't take it anymore. Q-chan had stolen from the room some twenty minutes earlier, and she took the opportunity of his absence to flip off her covers, swing her legs over the side of the mattress, and step onto the floor. Pleased with the opportunity to stretch her legs a bit, Rhine slipped out of the room.

She went into the parlor first, looking for D. She wanted to show him she was perfectly fine, and prove that she was ready to begin learning about the shop _now_. She heard his voice coming from behind a door that led to a separate series of hallways, along with another, that of a middle-aged man. A customer.

Not keen on interrupting D's sales pitch, Rhine slunk behind one of the many curtains adorning the walls, peeking out into the parlor to watch as D, Q-chan hovering over his shoulder, and a tall, pale man wearing a suit, overcoat, and hat came into the room. The man was carrying a large box with holes in the top. He had a creature with him. Rhine dearly wished she knew what it was.

The count opened a drawer in a large wooden cabinet not far from Rhine, and she held her breath so he wouldn't hear her. D pulled a slip of paper from it and went back to the man, placing the paper and a pen on the small wooden table between the couches. "Then please sign your name here," he said pleasantly.

The man set down the box without protest. "Ah…" he sighed, smiling to himself. "My lifelong dream is now in my hands."

_Maybe he's always really wanted a snake or something_, Rhine thought fleetingly, watching as the man picked up the pen and signed his name in a fluid motion across the bottom of the paper.

D smiled. "If you do not follow the rules of the contract, the store will not be held liable for anything that happens."

"Yes, I understand," the man assured him, picking up the box.

D began listing the evident terms from memory. "One: Do not let it see light. Two: Do not let it touch water. Three: Do not feed it after midnight. Please take care of it in the future… and shower it with your love forever."

_What kind of animal doesn't need water or sunlight_? Rhine shuddered, getting an unexplainable chill.

As soon as the man had shut the door behind him, D frowned and turned to the curtain Rhine hid behind. "I know you're there, Miss Bradford," he said angrily. "Come out."

_Busted_, Rhine thought, flinching. She stepped out from behind the curtain, smiling feebly. "I got… bored," she mumbled, her head down.

D came forward and tugged the curtains closed. "Well," he sighed, holding his head. "I suppose I can't really blame you. _Your kind_ have such short attention spans, after all."

Rhine, missing the true meaning in his words, interpreted that to mean her as an American teenager.

"What did you sell to him?" she asked tentatively, worried that asking that question after eavesdropping would be too much like prying.

D paused, looking contemplative. At last, he responded, "This shop is a place with rare creatures from all over the world, from all different time periods. The creature chose him for its master; I could not object. Now, as long as you're up, you may as well make yourself useful. Why don't you go flip over the sign out front from Open to Closed and lock the door?"

"Okay," Rhine said at once, scurrying to the door. She flipped over the sign like she'd been told and was about to head back inside and lock the door when a clear, commanding voice called out, "Wait!"

Rhine was nearly knocked backwards by a girl her age in a white dress with a mane of curly blond hair as she barreled past Rhine and into the shop. Temporarily dazed, Rhine listened with her mouth hanging half-open as the girl demanded, "Is this Count D's Pet Shop?!"

Rhine shook herself and shut the door, returning to the room in time to see D bow courteously to the girl. "Welcome."

A little upset that the rude blonde was warranting such respect after practically knocking her over, Rhine crossed her arms and sank into a chair, watching the girl's continued conversation with the count. "You're the… count?"

"No," D said at once. Rhine got the feeling he'd had a lot of practice answering that question. "The count is my grandfather. He is currently away on business, searching for new merchandise. I am only helping him keep shop."

Rhine hadn't thought of that. She'd already fallen into the habit of calling him "Count." _Oh, well. No reason to stop now_.

A portly man in a tweed suit burst through the front door, out of breath. He saw the girl and began, "Che—!"

"I'm not interested in your family affairs," the girl informed D, interrupting the man. Her escort, Rhine assumed. "A bird! Give me a one-of-a-kind bird. The rarest in the world!"

Rhine didn't like this girl at all. She was obviously a pampered rich brat; raised to believe she could get anything she wanted by flashing around her daddy's money.

"Miss," the man said pleadingly.

"Quiet! You were the one who told me about the shop in Chinatown that carries strange, rare pets!" the girl snapped. She turned back to D. "A bird with feathers as pretty as a peacock's and a voice like a canary's!" Muttering under her breath, she added, "A bird like that would be much better, much more expensive, than Janet's stupid parakeet."

Rhine stared at the girl in disbelief. _Seriously? She only wants a bird so she can outdo her friend's? As in, a "My horse is bigger than yours" contest? Ugh! Rich people_!

"I don't care how much it costs!" the girl declared, obviously getting riled up by the thought of this Janet and her parakeet.

"Miss, please! The master will be angry!" her escort begged her.

"Who, Dad? Humph! He won't be angry. He won't even care. Being so occupied with women and his work, caring about what his daughter does is the last thing on his mind!"

"I see," D said, looking thoughtful.

_Here it comes_, Rhine thought. _Tell her how foolish this is, Count. Send the brat running home crying. Tell her no such animal exists in this shop_.

"Something just right for you came in a few days ago."

Rhine's mouth dropped open. _What_?!

The girl was beside herself. "Oh, which one?! Which one?!" she exclaimed, looking around as though she expected to see a majestic, many-colored bird appear from nowhere.

"For many different reasons, I cannot display it openly," D said smoothly. "Please come to the back store room to see it."

Rhine rose to follow D and the girl, quite intrigued by the thought of such a perfect bird existing in the shop. The girl's escort also made to follow. D paused and looked back at him, smiling. "Please wait right here, Sir." Glancing at Rhine, he said, "Miss Bradford, you may as well accompany us."

"Cool," Rhine said enthusiastically, bounding after D and the girl through the door leading to the alternate set of hallways.

"So, what are you?" the girl asked Rhine, glaring suspiciously at her. Inclining her head towards D, she asked, "You his kid?"

"I work here," Rhine said simply.

As D led Rhine and the girl through the back hallways, Rhine finally found the animals she'd been looking for, though animals unlike anything she'd ever seen. There were eerie creatures snarling at her from behind hollows in the wall with bars so they couldn't escape and winged beasts with many eyes. When the count said exotic, he hadn't been kidding.

The girl looked freaked out. Probably contemplating the size of the shop, as Rhine had done once, and worrying she was going to be kidnapped and fed to the animals. Some did look mighty hungry…

D glanced back at Rhine and the girl. He saw Rhine looking amused by the girl's expression, and casually admiring the animals. He'd figured that her demonic nature would keep the creatures she was seeing from seeming too foreign to her. The other girl, however, looked panicked. Smiling, D asked her, "What's wrong?"

She started and scrambled for words. He sensed the lie in her voice, but let it slide. She was a customer, after all. "Oh! Um… nothing! It's just that… this place is filled with animals… but it doesn't stink at all!"

"The smell has been burned away with incense," D said casually. Rhine, having grown accustomed to the scent of it by now, made a noise of consent, as though saying _that makes sense_. It was slightly sweet, very subtle. One could easily forget its existence.

The trio arrived at a large, ornate door at the end of the hall and D announced, "This is it." He pushed open the door slowly. Rhine heard the heavy sound of a flapping pair of wings, and deduced that the bird must be of enormous size. D beckoned the girls forward. "We may startle it if I suddenly turn on the light, so…" he trailed off, since no explanation was needed.

Rhine's eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness and she looked around. The room was filled with exotic plants and bushes abundant with vibrantly colored berries. And in the room's center…

"Look!" D said proudly, pointing. "There it is!"

Rhine gasped, clasping a hand to her mouth. No way. Just… no way.

The other girl seemed equally horrified. "But… isn't that a _person_?!" she asked shrilly.

And it was. A young boy, maybe thirteen or fourteen, robed in ornate garments fit for royalty, from what looked like Indian origin. He had porcelain, unblemished skin and piercing golden eyes, with a bright purple bindi just above the bridge of his nose. His feet were bare and his nails were long, and he didn't speak; he simply stared, watching them as he lounged on a low chair next to a table with a bowl of fruit.

"Come here," D beckoned to the girl. Rhine remained where she was, staring in mortification at the boy D claimed was a bird as the other girl stepped tremulously forward. _Liar_! She wanted to yell. _How is that possible? It isn't_!

"This bird is from a small island in the southernmost part of the South Pacific," D explained smoothly, taking the boy's hand and helping him to his feet. Rhine's eyes widened as she say the majestic golden wings spreading out from between the boy's shoulder blades. A twinge of longing sparked inside her heart. She couldn't explain why seeing those wings made her so sad and so elated at the same time.

"This species is called _Strelizia_," D continued. The boy leapt gracefully into D's arms, holding onto D's clothes. His gaze never left the two girls. D didn't seem inconvenienced. "Of course, you wouldn't find his species in any illustrated book… because there are only a few that even exist in this world. And it is not only beautiful… its singing voice is stunning as well."

Rhine still wanted to scream. This wasn't right. It was a person he was talking about. Not a bird. Not a bird!

The girl froze. "Singing voice…?" she repeated dazedly.

Rhine was still completely immobile. This girl may have been easily swayed, but she refused to be persuaded.

The girl burst out, "What kind of singing voice does it have?!"

"Oh, what a shame," D sighed, seeming genuinely depressed. "This is a nocturnal species that will not sing until the dead of night. But I can guarantee that his singing voice is amazingly beautiful. Legend says that long ago, during banquets, the king of the birds' native island would hold battles. These would be between a bird and a poisonous snake."

Rhine sucked in a sharp breath. She was rather taken with hearing of a legend, but sensed that the tale could not end well. And of course, she still refused to believe the boy was a bird. "Battles?" she asked at last, the first time she'd spoken since entering the room.

"Yes. The bird would sing," D explained with a tone of longing to his voice. "If the bird sang well, the snake would be charmed into sleep. But if the rhythm was off by even a tiny bit… the snake would bite the bird's head off, thus silencing his voice."

The boy suddenly leapt out of D's arms towards the ceiling – Rhine yelped, terrified he would come crashing back down, but he remained in the air, flapping his magnificent wings. Rhine had to admit that she was somewhat convinced by D's story from that alone. D, watching the boy affectionately, continued, "In this way, the ones that survived passed on their beautiful voices."

"I…I see," the girl stammered, looking like she was working through a highly taxing decision-making process. Clenching her fists, she declared, "I'll buy him!"

"Oh?" D asked. Rhine got the feeling he was only feigning surprise.

"How much is he?!" the girl demanded.

D smiled. "We'll decide on a price once you've heard him sing. Then, if you find that you like it, we can discuss your payment."

"Then I'll listen to him tonight! Send him over to my place!"  
"All right! But he'll need a very large birdcage."

"Our place has a greenhouse. It's big enough to fit a tennis court inside, and heated!"

"That is excellent," D said approvingly, nodding once.

* * *

The moment the girl and her escort left the shop, Rhine turned on D. "What do you think you're doing?!" she shrieked furiously, watching the count calmly slip the piece of paper with the girl's address into his sleeve. "Humans?! You're selling _people_?!"

"Miss Bradford, of course not."

"And would you stop calling me that?!" Rhine burst, already irritated. "I'm not a Bradford! I want nothing to do with my father or his name! I'm just _Rhine_!"

"Well, Rhine, I assure you that I am doing nothing illegal."

"Selling humans is very illegal! Is that what you meant by exotic creatures? Children from other countries with… brain damage or something, I don't know! What the hell?! What's this shop's slogan? 'Anything from goldfish to sex slaves'?!"

"I do not deal in humans. I find many of them to be overall unpleasant; I do not wish to work with them any more than I have to."

"Oh, that explains so much! Wake up, D! I'm human, too!"

"You are a special case."

"You – what do – I don't – ugh!" Rhine spluttered, outraged. "You are _delusional_!" she finally yelled.

"Rhine," D said coolly, but with a much greater weight to his voice. Rhine felt a wave of calm settle over her. Sighing, D said, "My shop deals in creatures that are so rare that many barely exist in human memory anymore. And while some may take on human form, I assure you that none of the animals I sell are human. Chinatown is a wondrous place filled with many phenomena beyond your wildest dreams. My shop is no exception."

Rhine felt like she had to say something else, but she was lost for words. The crazy thing was that… she believed him.

"Now, the customer will be expecting us in a couple of hours," D said calmly. "In the meantime, Rhine, I was wondering if you might let me cut your hair."

She had almost forgotten."Oh! My hair," she repeated, amazed by her forgetfulness. "Yeah, I guess. I chopped about a foot of it off before I left home with a pair of kitchen scissors. I guess it looks pretty bad, huh?"

"Have a seat," D smiled, glad to have made peace with the girl. He'd have to be careful in the future – once her demonic nature began to come out, she could deal serious damage to him by merely raising a finger. Such was the power of her species – even the half-bloods. Rhine sat and D pulled a pair of scissors from one of his many drawers in the cabinets lining the walls.

* * *

"I apologize again," D said sincerely as he and Rhine climbed the steps of a magnificent mansion, cradling the bird, who was robed from head to toe in a white sheet, in his arms.

"_Sorry_ doesn't fix this," Rhine scowled, gesturing to her brown, rugged hair, which looked even wilder than it had before D had begun cutting it. Rhine didn't know why she trusted him with her hair. Maybe she had just assumed that since his hair was so perfect he could make hers perfect as well. "And _sorry _doesn't fix my shirt! I actually liked that shirt!"

D had also, by some unexplainable motion, managed to cut a decent sized hole in the back of Rhine's shirt. Feeling guilty, he had lent Rhine one of his traditional Chinese garments, the bottom of which she'd been forced to staple up because, as D stood a good twelve inches taller than her, it was much too long. She felt that she looked like some trashy American teenager trying much too hard to dress in the clothes of a culture she had an obsession with.

She'd feel better if only her hair was fixed properly, but…

"I'll have to go shopping tomorrow or something," Rhine sighed. "I still have about four hundred dollars. I'll see if I can pick up some new shirts and maybe get a decent haircut."

* * *

**Fin! I tried to throw in some comic relief at the end there. Those of you who remember the manga know how bad D is at cutting hair. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, once again, I do not own anything, and I'll see you again in part two!**

**Please review! PLEASE!**

**Ahem.**

**Phantom, out!**


	7. Dream, Part Two

**So, here's Chapter 7! It's been a long time since I updated. To be honest, I was holding out for more reviews, but what the hell. May as well get this out there and start working on Chapter 8. So, here's the finale to _Dream_.**

**Disclaimer: Nothing! I own nothing! Well, okay, I own Rhine. But everything else is NOT MINE.**

* * *

"Well?! It's almost midnight!" the girl announced as Rhine, D, and she stood in the enormous greenhouse attached to her mansion, watching the boy… or the bird, as Rhine had to keep reminding herself he was. He was sitting on a branch of a tree, looking around curiously. "Why isn't he singing?"

"Don't rush him!" D exclaimed, though he didn't look concerned. "This is a very frail bird. He needs to adjust first. Rhine, the incense, if you don't mind…"

Rhine handed over the jar she'd been carrying for D, as he'd been preoccupied with holding the bird on the way over. As he busied himself with lighting it, the girl said, "Oh, I see. Incense from the shop."

The bird turned his head sharply as the scent reached him, his piercing gold eyes searching for threats. Slowly, his expression softened.

Rhine heard the girl begging to him under her breath, "Hurry, hurry… and let me hear your voice…"

And the boy opened his mouth. The most enchanting, heart-breaking music Rhine had ever heard poured from his lips, making her heart lurch and leap all at once, a confusing display of emotions. A song of loss and of discovery, of pain and joy, of death and life, of tragedy and luck. Rhine didn't understand a single word, but every emotion pounded through her with astounding clarity. It was a voice so magnificent that Rhine wanted to laugh and cry and dance and die at that very moment. She had never heard something so wonderful before.

"He seems to like the customer," D said, pleased. "Because his kind is very particular, he will not sing for those he does not like."

"Then have I received his approval to be his owner?" the girl asked, grinning.

"Yes!" D smiled. He beckoned to Rhine, and she handed him the slip of paper she'd been carrying along with the incense. Pulling a pen out of his sleeve, D said to the girl, "Well, then. Please sign the official contract…"

The girl took the pen and wrote her name across the top of the page. Rhine grimaced. "Angelic?" she asked. It wasn't a name she would ever want for herself. It was too conceited, too gaudy.

"What a pretty name," D interrupted Rhine, flashing Rhine a look that said _be nice_. To Angelic, he added, "Now, you must be sure to follow all three terms of the contract."

"I know," Angelic snapped impatiently. Rhine was guessing she wanted to be alone to enjoy her new pet's singing.

"If you fail to follow the terms of the contract, the shop will not be held liable for any misfortunes that may occur."

"I _know_!" Angelic rolled her eyes as she scrawled her signature across the bottom of the page. Rhine tilted her head to read the terms.

One: Feed him fresh fruit for every meal of the day.

Two: Do not let anyone else see him.

Three: When he sings, you must be by his side, listening to him. He will not stop singing until he sees his owner's face. He will keep singing even if his throat begins to bleed.

D folded the paper precisely and slipped it into his sleeve. Smiling, he requested, "Then please, forever cherish and care for him." He handed her the small pot of incense and said, "I'll leave this for you." Without another word, he turned to leave. Rhine made to follow.

Angelic called suddenly, "Wait! What about the money?!"

"Oh, yes!" D said. Rhine sensed he really had forgotten this time. "Then… ten fruit tarts from Madame C's shop! The fifteen inch ones."

Rhine and Angelic both stared at him with looks of utter confusion. "Huh?"

"Those are the ones with the red glaze and green candies on top," D elaborated, smiling. "Deliver them to the pet shop tomorrow. Now, come along, Rhine."

"Uh… right," Rhine said, bounding after D immediately, trying to keep from laughing. She knew D liked his tea sweet, but she had no idea he loved sweet food so much he'd accept it as payment for a rare, one-in-a-billion species of bird.

* * *

Angelic's escort dropped the tarts off at D's shop the next day, but she returned a few days later, adamant. She explained about the way she felt, listening to the bird sing. Rhine gathered that Angelic experienced much the same emotions she had when she heard the bird for the first time, except Angelic's feelings actually turned to tears.

"That's because it's a song of love!" D smiled, handing Angelic a teacup.

"Love?" she repeated.

Rhine, who was sitting on a couch opposite the rich girl in a brand-new and unimpressive red sundress with her professionally-fixed hair, was also confused. That wasn't what she had gotten from the bird's song. True, there was some in there, but she'd gotten so much more than just that. "What exactly do you mean?" she asked.

"His beautiful plumage and his sweet, heart-melting singing voice… don't most species use these techniques to attract a mate?" D asked, looking enchanted at the thought. "Among birds, insects, fish, and many other species, the males work very hard to attract a female mate. On order to propose, every male must have talent… in his own way."

"He's… trying to propose to me?" Angelic asked, looking baffled. "But I'm a human, and he's a… bird…"

"He was raised by a breeder and has been around humans all his life," D explained as Q-chan soared into the room and perched on his shoulder. Scratching the volpertinger's ears, the count continued, "He has never met any of his species, aside from himself. Therefore, it is not improbable that he thinks of himself as human."

"Then… he never met his own parents?" Rhine piped up, feeling a twinge of sympathy for the bird. She felt somewhat akin to him in that sense… after all, her mom walked out when she was much too little to remember and her father had always been a nightmare to live with.

"That is correct," D nodded.

Rhine sighed, thinking about the song the bird sang. No one had taught it to him. It was just there, in his genes, passed down through the generations. That was what she had felt when he was singing. It was the pain of never knowing his own kind, of never seeing his home land. In that way, it became a love song.

"So… he's not singing to me as a human," Angelic concluded sadly. Rhine got the feeling she had been flattered the bird was… er… hitting on her. "He sings to me as a bird."

The piercing sound of the ringing phone, an old model, cut through the shop. Rhine offered to get it and went to the phone, but D swooped in and picked it up before she could answer. "Hello?" he asked coolly.

"Count D?!" Rhine heard a frantic, male voice on the other end exclaim. It sounded somewhat familiar to her, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Oh, Mr. Glenn. Could you call back another day?" D asked smoothly.

"No! Count!"

"What was that?" D asked.

"Help me! That thing I bought from your shop is going crazy! It even bit off my grandson's fingertip! And it's _multiplying_! They're all over my house!"

"Sir… you broke the terms of the contract and gave it water, didn't you?"

"Ah… yes, but… it was only a little bit!" the man said pleadingly.

No water. Oh, god. That was the man that had come in before Angelic. Rhine had never seen what sort of animal he'd gotten, but it sounded dangerous.

"I already told you," D said pleasantly. "If you break the rules, the shop is not liable."

"No! Wait! I'm begging you! They're coming over here—!" Rhine flinched as the man's pleas turned into bloodcurdling screams.

D hung up the phone. Rhine stared at him in horror.

"What was that?!" Angelic asked curiously.

"Oh… nothing," D smiled, turning back to her. "So, what will you call your bird?"

"P-chan!" she answered at once. "My family has a tradition of naming our birds P-chan!"

Rhine was still too horrified to be amused when fat tears began rolling down D's cheeks and he mumbled sadly, "Such a rare bird…"

* * *

"You sell monsters?!" Rhine demanded after Angelic had gone. "Is this why you still won't let me see any other animals?! Because they're all monsters? Is that bird going to eat Angelic or something?!" D had told her about the nature of the _Strelizia_, especially during mating, and the birds did have some… cannibalistic tendencies. Why wouldn't they go for human flesh, too?

"Heavens, no," D smiled, looking quite unconcerned. "I do not sell monsters. Some of my customers _do_ desire dangerous animals, but I would never sell a beast to someone like Angelic. Her P-chan is a very affectionate bird, I assure you."

Rhine chewed on her bottom lip for a while before muttering, "If all of this blows up in our faces, I won't be defending you in court."

"Fair enough," D replied, amused. _Because there's nothing I could legally be caught for_.

* * *

Rhine was the one who answered the phone the next day. "Thank you for calling D's Pet Shop. This is Rhine; how can I help you?"

"Oh, hey Rhine. It's Angelic. Is the count around?"

Rhine glanced around the room. He wasn't there, and she didn't feel like navigating the halls to find him. "Um… not right now, no. But anything you need, I can relay to him. What would you like?"

"I want a mate for P-chan."

Rhine's mouth popped open. "As in a mate for _breeding_?"

"Yeah. It's so sad that he has to live all by himself. Wouldn't it be great if he could have a wife with lots of children?"

Rhine hesitated. "I'm not so – wait a minute, Angelic. D just walked in."

The count had slipped into the room from the hallway carrying a box containing various green plants. "Who is it, Rhine?"

"Angelic. I think you should talk to her."

Rhine handed the phone to D and he pressed it to his ear. "Yes, Angelic? …A mate?" A shadow crossed D's expression. "…It is very difficult to breed this type of bird."

Rhine heard Angelic's shrill voice from the other end. "But wasn't P-chan born that way?! It'll be fine!"

"There are very few females at this time."

"I'll give you fifty fruit tarts from Madame C's Shop! And 100 of some other type of sweet! What do you want?"

"No… It is not a matter of—"

"A year's supply of Peninsula Chocolate!"

D froze, and Rhine knew Angelic had him. Shaking her head, Rhine sank into a chair and listened to D ask for Angelic to give him a few days to secure a female _Strelizia_.

"Chocolate," Rhine said disbelievingly once he had hung up. "You are going to obey a foolish girl's commands and devastate her entirely for _chocolate_."

D sighed. "It is what she dearly wants. And if she's going to get her way, we may as well accept the payment she's offered."

* * *

Rhine came into the parlor three days later, yawning, and found D sitting on a couch, sipping at his tea with a plate containing a half-eaten tart in front of him. He indicated the setting for Rhine across from him and Rhine sat down. She took a sip of tea, unsweetened per her request of a few days ago, which helped clear her head of the fog of sleep. "Good morning."

D smiled. "It is. The female bird just arrived."

"Really," Rhine mumbled. It wasn't a question.

"Once you finish breakfast, would you like to meet her?"

"Sure. Why not?"

The female was plain, dressed in simple garments with a purple bindi on her forehead. Her eyes were a dull brown and her hair was the color of sand, and her wings were white rather than gold. She looked frightened as D and Rhine walked into the room D kept her in – the same one the male had been housed in – but, much to Rhine's surprise, fluttered forward and clasped onto her, not D. D smiled and clapped his hands together in delight. "Wonderful! She's taken a liking to you!"

Rhine, dumbfounded, stroked the bird's hair a little numbly. "I wasn't expecting that at all," she admitted.

_Of course you weren't… but I was_, D thought, satisfied. _Being what you are, it's no wonder she felt a sort of kinship with you_. "Why don't you keep her company for a little while?" he said pleasantly. "I have a few things to do, and then we'll take her to Miss Angelic's home."

"Um… okay," Rhine said as the bird cooed in satisfaction. "Sure."

* * *

Rhine carried the bird to Angelic's home, wrapped in a sheet much like P-chan had been when they'd brought him along. She was very light, Rhine found. Although, being a bird, that probably was natural. Q-chan flew behind them, making the peculiar sounds he usually made. When Angelic answered the door, D, rather than greeting her, informed her dejectedly, "This has caused me quite a bit of trouble. There are only a few females of this species, so it was rather difficult to get a hold of. You are walking on a very dangerous path."

Angelic brushed him off and rushed to Rhine, trying to lift the sheet over the bird. "Never mind that! Hurry inside! I want to see her!"

She rushed Rhine and D through her home to the greenhouse and Rhine set the bird down. The sheet slid off of her thin shoulders and Angelic got her first good look at the bird. She looked between shocked and disappointed. "What can I say?" she asked. "She looks so… plain."

"The only ones that dress up are the males," D explained, gently relieving the bird of her sheet. "In addition, the females do not sing. As a result, no one ever wants them as pets… But she is of the same species as your P-chan, and can become his wife. However, if they do not take to one another, I'm afraid we'll have to try something else."

Rhine did not think that Angelic was listening to him. She was too preoccupied with watching the female bird proceed tentatively further into the greenhouse. "Oh! They're going to meet!" she exclaimed.

D shushed her and pulled both Rhine and Angelic forward. They hid behind a particularly thick clump of foliage, watching the first encounter between the _Strelizia_.

And boy, was there chemistry. Rhine was almost floored by the expressions on both birds' faces. A look of deep enlightenment and understanding, a look Rhine often associated with religious epiphany. Those birds were, very apparently, soul mates.

D couldn't have been more delighted. "It seems the first impression went extremely well!" he declared, clapping his hands together.

Angelic was still enticed by the birds. "Uh-huh…" she replied vaguely.

D noticed the somber expression on Angelic's face. "What is it?"

Rhine raised an eyebrow. "You're not regretting this or anything, are you?" she asked, remembering how flattered Angelic had been when she'd thought the bird was trying to propose to her. She half-hoped the girl would change her mind right now, and never have to know about what happened next, when P-chan and the female mated.

Angelic snapped out of it. "Of course not!" she said resolutely, though she looked somewhat miserable. "I'm sure! This is… this is just how it feels when a mother's child leaves her for the first time."

_That was kind of heavy for a fifteen year-old girl_, Rhine thought.

D pulled a piece of paper from his sleeve along with a pen and held it out to Angelic. "Then please sign this new contract."

Angelic did, without a word. D smiled and took it back. "Oh, by the way," he said. "Starting today, you can't come into the greenhouse for one week."

Angelic looked heartbroken at the newest instruction. "What?!"

D nodded seriously, but smiled at her. "Not even to bring them food."

Angelic looked like she was spiraling into depression. Rhine could only shudder, knowing the reason D was telling her this. Angelic, chewing on her bottom lip, asked, "Is this the term of the contract this time?"

"What good mother would interrupt her child's honeymoon?" D asked slyly.

"Oh!" Angelic gasped, the weight of her situation finally crashing down upon her. There were tears in her eyes.

Rhine was trying to keep from throwing up. Their so-called honeymoon would be about as pleasant as that of a couple of praying mantises.

D beckoned Q-chan and the volpertinger landed on his shoulder. D took him in his hands and offered him to Angelic. "If you think you'll be lonely throughout the week without, I can lend this to you. And remember – no matter what, you must not go into the greenhouse!"

When he and Rhine left Angelic's house, Rhine sat down on the curb and held her head in her hands, concentrating on breathing. "I feel sick," she gasped. "That… that poor girl…"

D sighed and sat down on the curb next to her, grimacing slightly. "I know. But it's what she wanted more than anything in the world."

"I don't care! She's going to be… _devastated_ after she goes into that greenhouse! P-chan won't be there! She loved that bird more than anything! Why did you find him a mate?! Why?!"

"I know it's difficult to understand," D said softly. "But you'll know one day."

Rhine gagged. "Really, D… I think I'm going to be sick."

D placed a hand on her forehead and shook his head. "You've got another fever," he said. "You have the weakest immune system of anyone I've ever met." Standing up and sighing again, he helped Rhine to her feet and kept a hand on her shoulder as they headed back to Chinatown. "Let's go home."

* * *

Rhine could only assume the flu was taking another stab at her, and spent the night throwing up and begging D not to call Dr. Liu back in. He didn't, though she did agree that if it got any worse, she wouldn't object.

And while it didn't get worse, it didn't get all that much better. Rhine was allowed to sit on the couch during the day rather than stay cooped up in her room, answering the phone when D was busy and greeting the occasional customer. Rhine assumed this was because Q-chan wasn't around to tattle on her, so he let her have enough freedom to placate her.

The few customers they got in the next few days wanted simple things like cats and fish, and D would cut off the incense and bring animals through to the living room. Rhine was very happy to see that they looked like animals to her sometimes rather than people, though the glamour never fully took root to her eyes. Often she would only catch flashes of a dog or cat's form.

When the sixth day arrived, while Rhine and D were enjoying tea, he suddenly stood up, a very serious look on his face, and simply told Rhine that they had to go. Rhine thought for a moment that maybe the police had caught wind of the monster trafficking and they had to make a run for it, but D simply said they had to go back to Angelic's.

Rhine feared the worst. And she was spot-on.

D got them into Angelic's house with no problem and they rushed through to the greenhouse, where Rhine almost vomited on the spot when she saw what was waiting for them there. P-chan's body, a look of horror, his last scream, etched upon his face, limbless, his stomach ripped open with his intestines spilling out of the bloody hole. The female bird was crouched over him, his blood all over her face and staining her clothes. She was licking her fingers, a look of delight on her own face.

And Angelic was there. Rhine could only assume that was why they had left on such short notice, although how D knew to go at this moment was a mystery to her. The anguish on Angelic's face tugged at both Rhine's heart and her weak stomach. "You!" Angelic screamed at the female bird. "Did you eat him?! _Why_?! Why would you do this?!"

Rhine gasped when Angelic struck the bird, a brutal slap across her face. The _Strelizia_ fell to the ground. D raced forward, catching Angelic's hand before she could hit the bird a second time. Angelic jolted and whirled around, gasping. "D!"

D had the sternest, most serious look on his face that Rhine had seen yet. She shuddered, swallowing back bile.

"Why did you stop me?!" Angelic yelled. No _why are you here_. No _how did you get in my house_. Just _why did you stop me_. "P-chan was eaten by his own mate!"

"Cannibalism is a trait of their species," D said darkly. "The male is used as nourishment for his child. That is his fate."

Angelic's look of horror was, Rhine had to admit, priceless. "Ch… child?" she breathed.

"She had to eat him in order to keep their species alive," D said. "In another day, she would have consumed every bit of his body, including his head. You would not have had to see this terrible sight."

Angelic crumpled to the ground. Rhine couldn't watch it anymore. She looked away as Angelic began to sob. "But…! But yesterday he was still singing!"

"Singing?" D repeated quietly.

Rhine remembered what he had told her about the _Strelizia_. "First she ate his arms," she whispered, adjusting the words to fit the situation. "And then his legs. But even with his arms and legs eaten, he was still alive." She swallowed back more bile and looked at Angelic. "As long as he still had his vocal chords, his breath, he continued to sing… for his owner."

Angelic looked at Rhine, tears streaming down her face, and broke down entirely. "For me?" she repeated, wailing.

D looked sullen. "The child will hatch in a month. And then you will be able to hear that love song again. The song is carried through their DNA, so that it will never be lost."

Rhine caught sight of P-chan's body again and her knees buckled. D caught her and, without another word, led her from the greenhouse, and no words were needed for him to convey that there was nothing either of them could do for Angelic now.

* * *

The trauma, or whatever it was, of seeing the bird's body, horrific sight it was, sent Rhine's flu back over the edge, and true to her word, she said nothing when D went to fetch Dr. Liu upon their arrival home. She was subjected to another injection of antibodies, gritting her teeth and trying not to think about it as D gripped her hand like the first time. She finally began to improve in the days after that. Little by little, D introduced her to the animals and explained their powers to her, and she began to make friends with a few – a raccoon in particular named Pon-chan, who liked wearing Victorian dresses and had a mane of curly blonde hair.

She wanted to meet D's three-headed dragon, who D described to her as a little girl with three distinct personalities called Honlon, though the personalities had separate names. He also said that two of the personalities hadn't even been born yet, which bamboozled Rhine. How could a three-headed dragon not have two of its heads hatched yet and still be a three-headed dragon? Little sense that it made, though, she still wanted to meet Honlon. However, D was afraid too much excitement would weaken her immune system further and she was not allowed to see the dragon.

* * *

Exactly a week later, when Rhine was organizing D's filing cabinets alphabetically, a man wearing a suit and hat entered the shop. She looked up from her work. "Welcome!" She called, offering the man a smile and hoping dearly D wasn't going to sell him something dangerous. The man had a handsome face and innocent eyes.

D came into the room with a tray of afternoon tea and set it down on the small coffee table, his attention diverted towards the customer. He smiled. "It has been a while, sir. Is your iguana doing well?"

"Oh, very well," the man grinned, removing his hat and hanging it on the coat rack next to the door. "But I have too many iguanas and turtles now. Do you have anything… different?"

Rhine sighed.

D's smile widened. "Hm… a rare and unusual pet that would appeal to you was just brought in. Because of reasons that cannot be discussed, I am unable to display it in the store front."

The man laughed. Rhine got the feeling he'd done this before. "Oh, money is not a question. You must let me see."

D led the man through to the hall and Rhine sank into a chair, shaking her head. That lizard monster in the back room was going to end up eating that man alive if he so much as let it smell human blood. But, as D had put it a few times in her few weeks of working in the shop: Sometimes humans deserve what they bring upon themselves.

* * *

**Fin! Long chapter, but I'm proud of it. So, send me your reviews and I won't sic the lizard monster in D's back room on you.**

**Thanks for reading and I'll see you all in Chapter 8!**

**Phantom, out!**


	8. Despair

**Well, people, it's been while, huh? This story is still, I guess, on hiatus, but I thought today, what the heck, why not write another chapter? So here we are. I hope you enjoy it, and in response to a review, here's the detective we all know (though may not necessarily all love… I personally find him merely tolerable). Read on!**

**Disclaimer: I remind you all, I own nothing – it is all Matsuri Akino's!**

* * *

Rhine stood beside D, waving good-bye to the small girl who had come into the shop twenty minutes earlier, sighing a little in relief. The girl had wanted a bird, and that was all; nothing magnificent like Angelic's bird from last week. Rhine's nightmares were still haunted by P-chan's dead eyes, the ghost of his final scream on his lips…

"Please treasure it forever," D called after the girl, a sad smile tweaking the corners of his lips. He always had that smile on when he sold normal animals to people. Rhine used to think he was upset one of his many animals had parted with him; now, she got the feeling he was just waiting for another horror story to unfold, slightly disappointed by the lackluster task of selling something ordinary that would require no follow ups or make them the recipients of rather macabre phone calls.

"Yup!" the girl called back, turning around to give D and Rhine one final grin. The image was endearing to Rhine; the child was cradling the birdcage, which was almost as big as she was, in her arms ever so carefully, tenderly ensuring she did not disturb her new canary. "Bye!"

As she turned around, Rhine watched her bump into a man on the street, and the bird chirped its irritation at being so violently jolted. The girl looked mortified. "Oh! Sorry, Mister!"

The man lifted the sheet enshrouding the cage, an expression of shock crossing his face when he saw the canary. "This is just an ordinary bird!" he said in disbelief, much to the child's and Rhine's confusion. Had he been expecting something different? A mutant sparrow, perhaps?

Rhine felt D's hand alight on her shoulder and he turned her towards the door. "Come inside, Rhine," he said quietly, glancing back outside towards the girl and the man she'd bumped into warily as Rhine crossed the threshold and he shut the door.

"What's going on?" she asked as he led her further into the parlor, still keeping his attention on the door. "Is this about—?"

Her question was lost as the door opened up again and the bell that announced the arrival of customers to them jingled merrily (an ironic sound, as far as she was concerned, in this pet shop of horrors) and the same man who had bumped into the girl came inside.

D's suspicious air vanished at once, replaced by his usual atmosphere of congeniality. "Welcome!" he greeted the man, giving him his full attention. "What does the customer desire? Our shop carries everything. Dogs, cats, birds, insects, and more."

The man smiled challengingly, and Rhine got a very unsettling feeling her gut. Something about him seemed familiar to her. He was tall and had an air of confidence about him that she didn't trust, that smug smile on his long, handsome face sending a tremor through her body that felt to her like a warning. His blonde hair was wildly out-of-date; who on earth wore a mullet anymore? And he smelled of cigarettes – an intolerable, repugnant stench. "I want to buy a lizard," he declared haughtily, and Rhine had the strange urge to slap that self-righteous expression off his face. "A poisonous lizard that has the ability to kill a person."

Oh, lord. Hadn't D just told Rhine about the lizard he'd sold to a man two months ago? A Basilisk, to be more precise, and deadly to boot – though poison was certainly not a factor. The lizard's murderous weapon had been strange to Rhine, unheard of, but she had never doubted for a moment the power D told her was lurking within its scarlet eyes…

"Don't be ridiculous," she snapped, ignoring the warning glance D was casting her way as she glared at the man who she wholeheartedly doubted was a customer. "We don't carry such dangerous merchandise."

"Look, kid, it's no use talking to you," he replied with equal disdain, and Rhine gave D a look that informed him fully of her irritation as she sank into one of the low couches in the parlor with her arms and legs crossed. The man looked at D scathingly and introduced himself at last. "I'm Officer Orcot from the city police. Are you the shop's owner?"

"No, I'm afraid my grandfather is away on a trip," D sighed. Rhine had asked him several times about this common excuse for his grandfather's absence, but he never gave her further details than that. "I take care of the shop now."

"Then were you the one who sold the lizard to Robin Hendrich?" Officer Orcot demanded.

"Hendrich?" D echoed him, as though he were trying to recall the name. What a liar he was! Just this morning, the news had been abundant with the man's name. "Oh! I saw it on the news," D said sadly, shaking his head. "What a pity. He was so young. Mr. Hendrich was one of our shop's best customers. He came here often. He even bought… twenty different types of lizards," D revealed, and Rhine didn't bother to stifle the mocking laugh that arose in her throat at the suddenly dismayed look on Orcot's face. D looked at him innocently. "Which one are you talking about?"

"This one," Orcot said, pulling two photos from his jacket pocket and holding them out. Unable to reign in her curiosity, Rhine unraveled her limbs and went to D's side to get a look at the pictures. The lizard was shockingly white and curled up, its eyelids shut. Orcot handed the photographs to D and elaborated, "This big white lizard that was found dead near the body."

D inhaled sharply, and Rhine saw pain contort his porcelain features. "Dead?!" he demanded urgently, despair laced into his tone. "But… how can this be…? This is a rare and valuable species. There is only a small number left in this world!" He shut his eyes and sighed, mourning for the creature. Rhine tentatively placed a hand on his arm, desperate to offer some sort of comfort. She knew, for D, the loss of the lizard was a much more detrimental blow to take than the loss of Robin Hendrich.

Orcot didn't seem impressed by D's grief; in fact, he looked a little resentful. Rhine could venture a guess that he was silently criticizing the way he obviously cared more for the lizard's death than the man's. "If you don't mind, we would like to compare its corpse to other creatures in this store," he requested, though to Rhine it sounded more like a threat.

"That is… all right," D agreed, still recovering from the news. Rhine patted his shoulder hesitantly and he opened his eyes and smiled at her, covering her hand with his as if to wordlessly tell her he was fine.

"That white thing is being tested right now," Orcot informed us. "If it's discovered to contain poison, we will not let your pet shop off the hook so easily."

D huffed his irritation with the accusation and folded his hands, getting a faraway look about him. "What we sell is love and dreams. Poison? How preposterous!"

Orcot growled in his throat and D smiled and gestured to one of the many overhanging birdcages in the parlor; installing them had been one of Rhine's first tasks as a pet shop employee. "Oh, yes! I think that a bird would be good for you!" D said pleasantly.

"Bird?! I'm nowhere near interested in that kind of thing!" Orcot growled, and Rhine was amused by his infuriation. It was just a _suggestion_, for goodness sakes…

"No," D said seriously, and a shiver ran down Rhine's spine at the darkness in his tone. "My meaning is for you to crush and eat its bones. You get angry easily because of a lack of calcium!"

Orcot stared at him mutely, finding no words to respond with, and finally left the shop, utterly humiliated. Rhine let out a long, ragged sigh. "I don't like him."

"We're fine," D assured her. "Robin's death was no more than an accident. I anticipated it, to be honest, although the loss of such a magnificent creature is heartbreaking…" he moved through the parlor towards the kitchen.

"I think I know him from somewhere," Rhine admitted, racking her brain to remember, though she still pulled nothing out of her memories. "I've got a bad feeling about him, D."

"I'm sure it's nothing," D smiled back at her. He didn't dare let his own dismay at the police officer's visit shine through his calm and cool façade, lest he worry her further. She was already so fragile… he was greatly anticipating the day her demon half fully overtook her and the weak human blood in her veins had run its course at last. "I'll go make some tea."

The police officer showed up at their doorstep the next day with an air of forced pleasantry and a phony smile on his lips. D looked at him and informed him dejectedly, "No matter how many times you come, it is no use. There is nothing else I can tell you."

"Ni-hao," Orcot greeted D, ignoring the way he'd been brushed off. Rhine almost choked on the tea she was sipping at, she was so appalled. She knew D spoke Chinese; he held conversations in Mandarin with several passersby when they went out, but never had someone who it was only too painfully obvious wasn't nearly fluent attempt to speak to him in Chinese. "I returned Robin's body to his wife today," Orcot informed D and Rhine, as though he were trying to make small talk. "Sorry if this has caused you trouble. And thank you." He pursed his lips and handed over the box in his hands. Rhine recognized an elegant scripted M in gold print on the box's side, a trademark of a fancy hotel on the rich side of town. "This is for you," Orcot said.

Rhine jolted, startled, when D suddenly burst into jubilant exclamations. "Ah! This scent is Hotel de Marseilles Champagne Gateaux! Amazing! They only sell thirty pieces a day! You have to wait in line before they open shop on order to get this masterpiece!"

D was not an early riser. Getting up in the morning was very near impossible for him, mainly because he was up at all hours of the night with the animals. Rhine hadn't yet found the courage to venture into D's bedroom to rouse him in the morning, so she kept shop herself until he awoke. She was lucky that early morning customers had yet to want anything more complex than a simple housecat.

Rhine could only assume such delicacies D could never awaken in time to get a hold of had moved D's soul, because thick tears of gratitude were rolling down his cheeks as he stared at Orcot's baffled expression in adoration. "You are a good person, Detective. Yes! I will tell you anything!"

Rhine laughed softly as she picked herself up and went to brew a new pot of tea while D ushered Orcot over to the parlor's couches and delightedly relieved the box of its pastries. When she came back out with a fresh brew and another teacup for the detective, D and Orcot seemed to be getting to the meat of things.

"I think that… Robin was killed by a spirit," D confided in Orcot as Rhine listened intently, shivering to hear D's somber tone. D had divulged this same speculation on her the night before, when she had mentioned Robin's short acting career, his only notable role his first, a decade or so ago.

"Spirit?!" Orcot demanded furiously, his hand freezing halfway in its ascent to bring his cup to his lips. "Listen, you, no matter how mysterious the case is, if you say the criminal is a spirit, then the police is out of a job!"

"Now, now, detective, don't get so angry," Rhine chided him amusedly, sipping at her own tea and watching the detective's handsome features contort with frustration at being scolded by a child. Under her breath, she added contemptuously, "Perhaps you should have taken up D's offer about that bird."

D placed a hand on her shoulder, reigning in her temper. Perhaps her demon side was stronger than he gave it credit for; she was so easily irritated. "No, I am saying that it is Robin's spirit that killed him," he explained, albeit rather nebulously.

"What?" Orcot asked lamely, staring at D.

Rhine jumped into the conversation, letting D enjoy a pastry while she explained the nature of Robin's spirit to the detective. "Ten years ago, Robin became famous with his role as an alien prince in a space movie. I was never much one for science fiction, but I saw the movie three years ago at school, when we had been discussing books-to-movies in English class, and there was no denying his… well, appeal. Sparkling gold hair… eyes like glass. His character sacrificed his life to restore peace to his home planet. A beautiful yet tragic crown prince… it set half the girls in my class to swooning."

She stopped briefly and then attempted to relay what D had told her the previous night to Orcot. "But after that, his career began to suffer. His acting wasn't nearly as… fair as his beauty." She paused for a moment to find the proper term to describe Robin's brief success.

Orcot seemed strangely amused by the tale of the handsome actor. "Ha! You can also say that although he had a pretty face, he had the acting skills of a radish. He was a one hit wonder!"

"Yes, thank you for dumbing it down so it makes sense to your narrow mind," Rhine muttered bitterly. She had more or less just said that, hadn't she?

D, sensing a furious retort from the detective and an equally caustic rebuttal from Rhine until there was a full out, fiery argument in his shop, interrupted. "The image of the crown prince was too strong. No matter what he did, he could not break though the image that the people of the world had of him. Robin became trapped and consumed by the spirit of his role as the crown prince. He came into my store about… two months ago, I believe it was. He often came in to buy pet food, but this time he was looking for a new animal. He had promised his wife he wouldn't buy any more pets, but he said his wife had left him. Evidently, it was because of his pets. Robin had several lizards and snakes."

Rhine shuddered, seeing in her mind's eye what came next as D weaved the story. She imagined D leading the handsome actor to the back room, offering up a pet he had received just the other day, for the pets always seemed to come in just a few days before they claimed masters. The room would be dark, clouded in incense, and there would be an animal in the room. Only it wouldn't look like an animal…

D had told her the Basilisk, the one in question a rare albino, in its human form looked like a beautiful woman from the waist up, with pallid skin and long, gossamer hair, so pale and blonde it as almost transparent. She was adorned with gold and jewels; a diadem upon her head and pearls wrapped around the dress she wore, opaque against the sky-colored material. And tied around her scarlet eyes was a black cloth, never once allowing the Basilisk to look upon the outside world through a dark veneer of fabric, protecting anyone who looked upon her from her deadly gaze.

Robin would have protested at first, as they all would; perhaps first brushing it off as a joke, thinking D was trying to play matchmaker. D would insist that she was a lizard, and Robin would at last regard the long, almost snakelike white tale, encased in shimmering white scales that began at her waist and extended a good five feet. And Robin would slowly accept his new incredible reality; touch the lizard woman and feel her cool, soft skin… tangible, corporeal. He would want to see her eyes, of course… but then he'd learn what power she held and realize such a thing was impossible, lest he valued his life.

"Legend says that the species I sold to Robin were used as assassination weapons," D explained to the detective, who looked as though he were lost in a fairy tale rather than accounts of truth. "They are not poisonous, but rather contain magical power. With the use of her alluring body, she could draw the enemy to her. Once they were close, she would remove the mask covering her eyes and let her prey look into them. Those who saw her eyes were immediately transformed into stone. She is the woman from Greek mythology. A gorgon…Medusa."

"Ridiculous," Orcot protested at once, his gaze transforming from that of a daydreamer into one of a person who believes he has been lied to. "I don't believe this at all!"

"Robin also said that, at the time," D said casually, sitting back in his seat and folding his hands. He looked at Orcot wearily.

"How could he mistake a lizard for a woman?!" Orcot demanded, as though he assumed by shouting he would find the answers neither D nor Rhine possessed. "Was he taking drugs or something?!"

"I am merely telling you the truth," D said simply, the corners of his lips turning up in a sly smile. "Whether you choose to believe or not is up to you."

Rhine, who had been rather entranced by D's recollection of what had happened, interrupted, annoyed with Orcot for interrupting this newest of fairy tales that would rapidly twist into a horror story. "So in the end, Robin bought that lizard," she prompted, and D turned to her instead.

"Yes. She also felt a strong bond with Robin. If she chooses to go with the customer, I cannot do anything to stop her. Rhine, would you go look in one of our filing cabinets? You'll find the contract Robin signed beneath H."

Rhine obediently vacated her seat and searched through various files, which were organized by the customer's surnames. She examined the terms of the contract curiously at a glance, not wanting to take too much time dawdling. 1_) Feed her fresh fruit or live animals every day. 2) Do not let others see her. 3) Never look at her eyes_.

Rhine brought the contract to D, but he shook his head and indicated Orcot, and Rhine reluctantly handed it over to the detective, her eyes flashing when he gripped it too tightly and wrinkled the paper. She had seen plenty of empty contracts before; she knew what binding words existed at the bottom. Smugly, she informed the detective, "If something happens as a result of breaking the rules, the store isn't held liable for it. This is what our customers agree to by signing. Have I made myself clear, or shall I repeat it in words you can understand?"

"Thank you, Rhine," D said gently, placing a hand on her back. Rhine took this as her cue to cease talking before she entangled herself in fury's web and drove both the detective's temper and her own over the edge. "The news reports all said Robin attempted a final time for a role in a film, unsuccessfully. He had lost his wife, his patrons… he was about to lose his apartment and all his pets… Medusa was his only friend left in the world. And Robin, driven mad with loneliness… desiring to stare into the eyes of his sole companion… I personally wouldn't find it surprising that Robin removed Medusa's blindfold and permitted himself to her deadly gaze."

"Nonsense! How could that happen?!" Orcot exclaimed, leaping to his feet in a moment of rage, too caught up in D's story to care about propriety. "That's just like suicide! And… all he did was look in her eyes and he died…" he seemed to realize how ridiculous he sounded and continued with a more sensible demand. "How the hell can there be a lizard that can kill at a glance?!"

D took a calm sip of his tea, while Rhine glared at Orcot over her own cup in contempt, half-wishing for the Basilisk's deadly stare. "Whether you choose to believe this or not is up to you," the shopkeeper said nonchalantly. Orcot couldn't help but feel D's demeanor was meant to irritate him.

Rhine had to have her last word, jumping in with a resolute comment. "The fact is that this store did not sell a dangerous, poisonous pet," she declared, crossing her arms and glaring at Orcot like she were challenging him to contradict her.

Orcot cringed, staring at the shopkeeper and his assistant in mute horror, wondering how the hell they managed to talk themselves out. "Wait!" he demanded, attempting desperately to use their ridiculous story against them. "Then what about Medusa?! Why did she die as well?!"

"Actually… I did not expect that to happen," D sighed mournfully. "When she opened her eyes the first thing she saw was the dead body of the man whom she loved. And it was her eyes that killed him! You said a mirror was found near the bodies? Naturally, she looked into her own eyes…" he shuddered with melancholy over the death of the rare creature and trailed off.

"So, as you can see, a double suicide," Rhine concluded, a smug grin on her lips as she finished her cup of tea and began the process of pouring herself a new one.

"Actually… for the crowned prince who never grew up, when he looked into those eyes, he saw the flawed reality of the world," D speculated, looking into empty space. "And the sweet taste of darkness…"

Orcot left the shop utterly defeated and hopelessly confused.

* * *

Leon Orcot saw the peculiar shopkeeper and his fiery assistant far too soon for his liking: two days later, at Robin Hendrich's funeral. D wore a midnight black kimono shimmering like fish scales, and Rhine a full-skirted dress with long sleeves and a plunging neckline. She had apparently left her glasses at home. Leon hadn't noticed it before, but she was fairly attractive. The type of attractive he would usually ask to take for a drink.

D offered a small, velvet black bag to the detective. "Here are Medusa's bones," he explained when Leon gave him an inquisitive look. "The lovers should be together."

Leon took the bag gingerly from D and tossed it into the open grave over the coffin in lieu of a flower, while the other guests showered the wooden box with roses and chrysanthemums and gave him curious glances. Once that was done, he returned to the odd pair, standing beside D with his hands in his coat pockets as they observed the mourners.

"Robin has been released from his role as the crown prince," D said softly.

Leon shrugged. "It isn't much worth to him now that he's dead."

Rhine made a scathing noise of amusement and muttered something under her breath that Leon didn't quite catch, but D placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head, making him think he really didn't want to know what snarky remark she'd made.

D returned his attention to Leon. "No. You're wrong." He indicated the sea of people dressed in black. "Look. _Listen_."

And he was right. All around, there were whispers.

"What a pity. He was so young."

"His role as the crown prince really was an art."

"I heard that he was going to play a main part in the next big movie."

"Robin was a genius. This is a loss to the entire movie industry."

"You can say that again. He was… beautiful with an unfortunate life."

D smiled subtly as he listened to the commentary, and Rhine turned her head to look at every person who murmured such sentiments. "He did not wish to grow old and senile," D said. "Living within the dirty life of show business. He lived a brief life and died on the silver screen before waking from his dream… reborn as the star of a legend that will be told forever."

He bid a brief goodbye to the detective and Rhine even nodded her head cordially as the strange duo departed. As they made their way out of the cemetery, Rhine wrapped her arms around one of D's and sighed. "It's sad, isn't it? And yet… sort of beautiful. Gaining immortality through death."

"Humans are certainly an ingenious species," D affirmed, smiling to himself as he considered the day Rhine finally discovered she was not one of them… no; she was far superior.

* * *

**Fin! Hope you enjoyed it. Rhine is quite the sass, isn't she? I apologize for the continuing hiatus, but I've had writer's block like crazy for the last few months, and unfortunately, it persists. I had to force myself to pound this one out for your viewing pleasure. I hope you review.**

**Phantom, out!**


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